Love can Overcome Anything
by MelodyofTwilight
Summary: Love is beautiful, strong, overpowering and will last for eternity. Bridget and Eric test their love through life's obstacles. Is their love for each other strong enough to last? Completed! EricBridget
1. Bridget's Memories

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By: OrchidPrincess 1010

**A VERY IMPORTANT A/N- This story takes place on the day Bridget was to leave Brown (she graduated)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters you recognize; they all belong to Ann Brashares**

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Chapter One: Bridget's Memories

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Bridget layed down on her average-sized bed staring at the white ceiling. Everything these past 5 years have been tremendously exciting and overwhelming. Bridget started to remember all the good and bad times she had experienced. _Everything passed by so fast. From the first summer Carmen, Lena and Tibby and I have separated for the first time to now, I wish I could just slow down time. _Bridget sighed as she slowly went through all the vivid memories; the summer she messed up with Eric, Lena had met Kostos in Greece, Tibby's friend Bailey had died, Carmen had met her dad's family, she had lost herself over the second summer, re-meeting Billy again, visiting her grandma Greta, Lena's heart breaking relationship with Kostos, Carmen's new brother Ryan, Tibby's relationship with Brian, her re-encounter with Eric in Baja, her first day at Brown (her college) and much, much more. It has been more than three years since Bridget has contacted Eric. They had broken up due to the fact that they could only spend 1 day a year together because Eric was the professional coach coaching the "Kickers" and had to travel around the world. As Bridget was deep in her thoughts, she decided to phone Tibby. Tibby picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?" answered Tibby

"Hi Tibs!" exclaimed Bridget

"Hi Bee! How are you?" asked Tibby

"Oh, I was just reliving those wonderful and heartbreaking memories" Bee replied.

"What a cheesy line." Tibby replied, laughing. "So are you coming back home after you graduate from college?"

"My life is a cheesy line" Bridgey laughed in reply. "Definitely, I'll be back home after I graduate. But I have to visit Greta first in Alabama. I'll come back home 2 weeks. Okay?"

"Sure"

"How is your movie going?" Bridget asked. Tibby had dropped out of college because she didn't like their way of teaching video producing. Instead, small video companies have hired Tibby to make direct videos for them.

"I'm not doing so well Bee. Brian and I have just gotten into this gigantic fight because he wanted me to move to Pittsburgh with him. I'm not ready for that yet." Tibby sighed.

"Go for what you want Tibby. Don't let others stand in the way of following your heart"

"Haha, another cheesy line from the oh-so cheesy Bridget Vreeland."

"Hey!" Bridget replied, feigning hurt.

"Anyways, okay. Thanks Bumblebee for the cheesy advice. I have to go now. Someone's been ringing my doorbell for ages"

"I think you've been eating too much cheese. Maybe that's the explanation for all your cheesy remarks" Bridget said teasingly.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. That was so funny I forgot to laugh." Tibby replied teasingly back.

"Okay, bye. I'll see you next week okay?" replied Bridget.

"Buh- Bye!!!"

Bridget flopped back down on the bed and continued to stare at the ceiling. 2 more hours until her graduating ceremony and her freedom will come.

oOo

Sighing, Bridget picked up her bags and headed toward the airport taking one last look at her college dorm. The highly anticipated graduating ceremony was over and it was just as emotional as her graduating one from high school.

"Bye" Bridget whispered to her dorm room. She went to say goodbye to all her friends before leaving Brown forever.

Feeling as though her heart had dropped 30 centimeters down her body, she glanced at Brown one last time before she drove herself to the airport. When Bridget arrived at the airport, she hopped on the plane and started flying down to Alabama to visit Greta.

The second she reached her airplane seat, Bridget put on the hood of her hoodie and fell asleep, thoroughly exhausted. She had spent almost all night at the graduating party with her friends the night before. She had gotten a maximum of 3 hours of sleep that night. Now, she decided she needed the time to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

1 hour later Bridget woke up feeling some-what refreshed. She suddenly decided to clean out her purse out of pure boredom. Dumping everything on the table, she went through all her things. Soon after, Bridget came across this picture of her and her sisterhood. Memories once again flooded her as she realized how much she had missed her sisters. Frantically wiping away her wet eyes, Bridget scolded herself silently and told herself that she would be seeing them again in two weeks. She then quickly put all her stuff neatly back into her purse.

Slowly, Bridget felt tears drop down her face. But this time, it wasn't because she missed her Sisters. This time, it was because she would never come back to Brown ever again. She quickly turned toward the window to hide her face. Bridget didn't want to let anyone see her cry.

After 2 minutes of letting her tears drop freely down her face she felt someone's hand on her knee. Wiping away her tears quickly, she looked to see who it was.

Billy. It was Billy. Bridget let out a gasp and quickly looked out the window again to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Slowly she reminded herself that she was acting like a fool so she straightened up her face. Billy's hand was still grasping her knee. She turned around and smiled at him. Trying to act composed, Bridget said calmly, "Hi Billy, it's really nice to see you again."

Billy took his hand of Bridget's knee and looked into her face. "Bee? Is it really you? I wasn't sure. Gosh, I haven't seen you for years. You look beautiful, like I just saw you five years ago. I was just thinking about what has become of the Great Bee and there you were looking out the window. How's it going? Are you going to Alabama? Of course your going to Alabama, Your in a plane going to Alabama. It's so cool how we met on a plane." Billy said excitedly in one breath.

Bridget giggled. Billy looked more mature but he was still the same old, over-excited Billy she knew as a kid. He still looked as gorgeous as ever though. Smiling, Bridget replied, "Calm down Billy. We have 1 hour until the plane lands. We can talk." Hugging Billy, Bridget also added, "I missed you a lot. We haven't seen each other ever since the second summer (AN- Okay, let's just say that Billy already knows about how Bridget refers to her summers)."

Billy replied, grinning, "I missed you too. So tell me, what have you been doing in all these years?"

Bridget immediately started telling Billy about Brown, her soccer team, her college friends, her "sisters", and how she missed Brown already. However, Bridget left out the parts about Eric and her relationship with him even though they had broken up years ago.

Billy proceeded into filling her up about how her grandma's been doing and how his team won the state championship 1 year ago. It seemed that Billy was just returning back home to Alabama too. They both had avoided the subject about relationships.

Before they knew it, the airplane landed. Billy and Bridget had been so caught up into filling each other in on stuff that they barely noticed the plane had landed. When the plane was empty, Bridget and Billy were still blabbing on about their life. The flight attendant had to tell them the plane had already landed. Grinning sheepishly, they walked hand in hand out of the aircraft.

After Bridget and Billy both had their bags, Billy suddenly turned and looked into Bridget's eyes. He told her seriously "Bee, I couldn't stop thinking about you, and all this time, I've been wondering if you have a boyfriend or if you still feel the special spark I feel for you."

Shifting her feet nervously, Bridget answered quietly, "I don't know Billy. I had a boyfriend but we broke up years ago. I never had one since." Bridget had purposely left out Billy's second question because she wasn't sure how she felt for Billy.

Billy smiled, noting that Bridget had left out his second question. Not one for interrogating, Billy grabbed Bridget's luggage along with his and lead her to the exit of the airport.

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	2. Greta, Billy and Alabama

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**By: OrchidPrincess**

**Chapter Two: Greta, Billy and Alabama**

oOo

Bridget walked hand in hand with Billy out of the airport. She didn't know what to do. Her mind was trying very hard to sort out her feelings for Billy. Did she still like him after all these years? Speechless, Bridget followed Billy into his car and looked out the window.

"Bee? Are you all right? You seem pretty quiet." Billy asked. Bee simply looked at him. Billy was a really handsome guy. He had eyes that were so mysterious and big, with a very lean body and he had gorgeous hair.

Suddenly, it struck her. She knew that she loved Billy and all she ever needed to be happy was him. Smiling, and taking his hands in hers, she said "I'm alright. You know the question you asked me before, I haven't answered it yet."

Billy replied, "I was wondering if you forgot about it or you just avoided it"

"Anyways, the answer is yes, I really do love you. It's just that I needed a little time and thought to get my feelings sorted out." Bridget said. Eric had broken up with her because he felt that one day a year of seeing each other wasn't enough. Even though Eric didn't admit it, Bridget was pretty sure that there was another reason to this break up. The reason why she thought this way was because she thinks he loves one of his star girl players. After her break up with Eric, she hadn't gone out with a guy in 3 years. Eric had broken her heart before, and he broke her heart again. It took her 10 months to slowly get over Eric.

Slowly, but ever so passionately, Billy leaned in to kiss her. She felt fireworks erupting from her head to her toe and happiness filled through out her body for the first time in 3 years. After the quick, but meaningful peck on the lips, Billy looked down at his feet, unsure of what she would say. Laughing, Bridget leaned over, put in Billy's car keys.

Billy laughed at this. He had forgotten that being with Bridget was never awkward and she would directly tell him if she thought something was wrong. Smiling like if everything was alright in the world, he drove to Greta's house where Bridget was supposed to be staying.

Ten minutes had passed by and they were still on the road because there was heavy traffic. Bridget looked out the window impatiently, due to the fact that she wanted to see Greta really, really badly. She tapped her fingers on the dashboard, fiddled with the seatbelt, shifted her feel impatiently and constantly looked out the window. She hoped Billy didn't find her actions strange.

After another five minutes, Bridget decided that the only way she could pass time was to talk with Billy. Before she opened her mouth to say something, Billy asked her adruptly, "Bee, when we met at the airport, you said something about a boyfriend 3 years ago. Who was he and why did you break up?"

Taking a deep breath, Bridget started telling Billy about her story about Eric and her from the first summer. She told Billy about how Eric had broken her heart on the first summer, how he and she had started all over on the third summer and broken up one year later. She told Billy about her suspicions that he had broken up with her because he loved one of his star girl players. Lastly, she told Billy about how she hadn't gone out with a guy in 3 years and how it took her 10 months to get over Eric.

It felt weird to be saying Eric's name out loud, Bridget mused. She hadn't said it for so long... it was like his name was taboo to her word vocabulary or something. Nonetheless, Bridget felt relieved and refreshed.

After finishing hearing Bridget's story, Billy just looked at her. After 2 minutes of silence, Billy spoke up. "Bee? I am so sorry. Eric is a rotten guy who doesn't deserve your love. If I ever get to meet him, he's dead." Billy had said this with so much anger; it touched Bridget that he cared so much for her.

Finally, they arrived at Greta's house. Bridget quickly threw her car door open and sprinted so fast to Greta's door, she practically slammed into it. Ringing the doorbell, she waited impatiently for Greta to open the door. When the door swung open, Bridget expected to see Greta's sweet and loving face welcoming her inside. But instead of Greta's sweet body by the door, there was a man. He had sandy hair with blue eyes. His tall muscular body was standing near the doorframe. Bridget, without taking much of a glance at this man, she simply pushed the man over with as much force as she could muster and ran inside the house calling Greta's name.

"Greta!" Bridget screamed! "I'm home!"

"Darling! My oh my, you grew so much!" Greta replied happily as she went over to hug Bridget. "Oh, Bridget, guess who came to my house! Eric! He claimed he was looking for you! He's such a nice man, sweetheart!"

Bridget's heart went down a hundred miles. "Eric?" she croaked.

Turning around, she looked behind her. Eric was just walking toward her.

"Bee! How are you?" asked Eric. His expression seemed hopeful, like he wanted to make up and return as a couple again. Eric hugged her.

Bridget, speechless, pushed him away. "Eric! Go away!" She managed to say quietly. She ran out the door and ran to Billy, who was unloading her stuff. Bridget felt tears streaming down her face.

Billy, surprised to see her running and crying out of the house simply done the only thing he could think off. He hugged her. "Baby, what's wrong?" Billy asked with a worried expression.

Bridget whispered in his ear "Eric, he's here Billy." Billy suddenly stopped hugging Bridget. Bridget stopped crying at this sudden reaction and looked at him questionably.

"Where is he Bee?" Billy asked, his face expressionless.

Bridget replied confused, "Inside the house."

Stepping away from Bridget, Billy said "Come with me Bee". Bridget obediently followed, confused.

Once Billy and Bridget were in the house, they found Greta and Eric sitting on the kitchen table sipping tea. Apparently, Greta, knowing Bridget well, had told Eric to stay inside.

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	3. Eric

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**Chapter 3: Eric**

**AN- I just wanted to say thank you to my first two reviews from xXx dark shadow xXx and PriscillaN. Thank you so much! You guys made my day! For the rest of you people that haven't reviewed for me, please! Review! **

oOo

Billy and Bridget stepped inside the kitchen. They were holding hands. Eric and Greta looked up from their conversation and smiled. Billy, who had a fierce look on his face let go of Bridget's hand and stepped forward to greet Eric.

Eric, seeing Billy step closer, stood up from Greta's kitchen chair and put his hand forward to shake Billy's hand. "Hello. Nice to meet you." Eric greeted formally.

Billy, who seemed to relax a little bit more, replied "Hi. My name's Billy. I assume you are Eric?"

Eric looked shocked when he saw that Billy already knew who he was. Looking at Bridget who was staring at her feet, he answered "Yes. I'm Eric. Can I please ask you to excuse Bee and I for a moment please?"

Bridget, upon hearing this, looked up from staring at her feet and said "What?"

Eric walked toward her and held her hand gently, but firmly, said "I need to talk to you."

Bridget looked at Greta, who was shrugging, and Billy, who looked quite reluctant into letting Bridget follow her ex-boyfriend, followed Eric out of the kitchen door, pass the hallway and finally into the living room. Eric let go of Bridget's hand and sat down on the beige couch.

Bridget did the same, but she sat down on the opposite couch. For 10 minutes, both of them just looked at each other without locking eyes. Eric looked at Bridget's curvy, slim body, and her long, beautiful bright banana colored hair. He noted how her bright green-blue eyes seemed to sparkle and how her freckles were dusted just right across her slender nose and cheekbones. He gazed at her more mature posture, and her long, langly legs and arms.

At the same time, Bridget noticed how Eric's figure had become more muscular but lean at the same time. She also observed his broader shoulders and she was almost certain he didn't grow any taller. Her eyes then looked at his face, and seemed to notice his sandy hair seemed to grow longer. As she looked at Eric, she remembered all the things she used to love about him. The way his hair falls into his eyes, the way he holds a cocky, but warming posture, the way his light stubble would tickle her chin, and the way his eyes used to look at her with such a loving gaze...

Suddenly, Bridget couldn't stand being so polite and quiet anymore. Hatred started spilling out of her. She couldn't start falling back in love withi him again. Heck, she didn't even know if she was 100 over him yet and it was three years since they broke up.

She stood up and demanded very rudely "Eric, what are you doing here?" She had her hands crossed over her chest and she leaned on one hip.

Eric looked up at her. He looked at her pleadingly and said "Bee, please, can we talk about this first, and more cordially?"

Eric's remark made Bridget even madder. She started to scream at him. "ERIC! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU CAN'T JUST WALTZ INTO MY GRANDMA'S HOUSE AND EXPECT ME TO GREET YOU KINDLY! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU PUT ME THROUGH THESE LAST 3 YEARS? DO YOU? I HAVEN'T GONE OUT WITH ANYONE FOR THREE YEARS! YOU PUT ME THROUGH MILD DEPRESSION! YOU RUINED MY LIFE! WHEN I WENT TO THE AIRPORT, I MET BILLY AND I THOUGHT I WOULD BE HAPPY AGAIN! NOW HERE YOU ARE, READY TO MAKE ME GO THROUGH THAT ENTIRE HECTIC RELATIONSHIP AGAIN! DO YOU WANT ME TO GO OUT WITH YOU AGAIN JUST FOR THE REASON THAT YOU CAN BREAK MY HEART AGAIN?

Bridget stopped to catch her breath. When catching her breath, she noticed that Billy and Greta had been standing near the doorway watching her furious rage.

Eric just had his face in his hands. Calming down slightly, Bridget silently passed Eric, Greta and Billy to go in the kitchen to get some water. Bridget took a cup of water and started to sip it very slowly. When she was done, she put her cup in the sink and walked back to the living room.

Before she could enter the living room, she noticed that Billy was still outside waiting for her. He took her back into the kitchen and said "Bee, just come outside with me. We'll go to my house. Don't worry. We'll come back to Greta's house when Eric's gone."

Bridget, smiling at Billy said "Billy, you don't need to worry. I'm fine now. I just want to get it over with Eric." Leaning in, she gave Billy a quick peck on the lips and walked back to the living room.

As soon as she entered the living room, she noticed Greta had left. Bridget smiled. Just leave it to Greta for knowing exactly what to do. Sitting down on the opposite side of Eric, who simply looked at her, Bridget said "Eric, we need to talk"

Eric just nodded.

Bridget continued "I asked you before and I will ask you again. Eric, what are you doing here?"

Eric replied "Bee, I came here to apologize. I'm still coaching for the Kickers but I had to take a break to visit you. I came here to apologize for breaking up with you years before. I was stupid. I never realized what I had until the one only person I ever cared for was gone. Please Bee. Take me back." Eric looked at Bridget pleadingly. Eric knew he probably looked pathetic and desperate, but he didn't care. He needed Bridget back in his life.

Bridget, who seemed to soften up, looked at Eric. She looked in his eyes, which were getting moist, and she looked at his hands, which were clasped together in a tight hold. Slowly, her eyes were getting moist too.

She hugged him and he slowly wrapped his arms around her in return. Bridget said into his t-shirt clad shoulder "Eric, I am so sorry but I have a boyfriend now."

Bridget felt Eric loosen up their hug immediately. He looked into her eyes and said "Bee? Don't you love me?" Eric mentally slapped himself for saying this because he knew it was extremely cliche. But once again, he didn't care.

Bridget replied, "I'm sorry Eric, I can't go through with this again." Tears were now streaking down her face. She gave Eric another brief hug and went up to her room.

Bridget found herself lying on her bed crying for no good reason. She heard the door open then close and a car's engine starting. Pretty soon, she stopped crying. Bridget didn't get out of her bed though.

Billy walked in her door. She looked up. He came and sat down with her on the side of her bed. Stroking her long hair, Billy whispered "Bee, come on. Let's go get some dinner." Immediately, Bridget started to feel happy again. After all, she had never been on a date with Billy.

Smiling, Bridget shooed Billy out her door and told him to go home and get changed. Bridget rushed to her bags and opened up her suitcases, rummaging to find proper clothing to match the occasion. She wanted a casual, yet stunning outfit to wear. Bridget wished that she had the traveling pants right now. Apparently, Lena had them. Bridget, Lena, Carmen and Tibby had been continuing their circulation of the Pants. Since they no longer spend day and day with each other, the Pants are now used on normal days too. Not only on summers.

After minutes of searching, Bridget found the right outfit. She wore slim fitting jeans and a beautiful light blue crop top with matching earrings. Bridget fastened a pearl necklace around her neck and combed her hair until it was presentable. She rushed into the bathroom and started applying her makeup. A little bit of silver eye shadow, mascara, a bit of blush, and plenty of lip-gloss.

Finally, Bridget was satisfied with her appearance. Choosing high stilettos, she walked down the stairs to find Greta waiting for her on the bottom. "Bee, darling, you look beautiful!" Greta exclaimed. Bridget hugged Greta in response.

Shortly after, Billy arrived wearing perfectly fit, jeans that were not too baggy and not too tight. He wore a dark red collar shirt that was rolled up to his elbows and hanging loosely over his jeans. In addition to that, he wore a black tie. Bridget thought he couldn't have ever looked more handsome even though she didn't really like the black and red combination. She was more of a white colored girl (AN- a white color, not to be meant as racism).

Flashing his toothy grin at Bridget, he took her hand and led her out the door. Once they were all settled in Billy's car, Billy turned to Bridget and said "Gosh Bee, you look great."

"Thanks Billy." Bridget replied. Once Billy got the car started, he turned toward Bridget and asked her "Bee, Mexican or Mongolian tonight?"

Bridget thought about this very carefully. Finally, she said "Mexican". It's been a long time since Bridget had eaten Mexican food. She had purposely avoided Mexican food before because they reminded her of Eric, but now, she thought she was ready to eat Mexican food now.

Once they arrived at the Mexican restaurant, Billy and Bridget walked hand in hand inside. A waiter led them to a corner seat, which had a small table with a comfy corner couch specially designed for two. Bridget sat down beside Billy. His arm was around her waist. She smiled at him.

Still eating their tacos, Billy and Bridget talked. They talked about everything. The most popular subject was soccer. In the middle of discussing each and every soccer team, Bridget felt that her bladder would burst any minute from all the wine she's been drinking.

Quickly informing Billy about this, she hurried into the lady's washroom. When finished, Bridget washed her hands then adjusted her make-up. In the middle of reapplying her lip-gloss, four girls looking around the age of twenty came in. Apparently, they were squealing over this man who was making out with this girl in the restaurant. "He's so gorgeous!" exclaimed one of the younger looking girls.

"Gorgeous? He's not gorgeous! He's drop-dead gorgeous! I'm so jealous of that girl!!!" exclaimed another. After many statements about this man, the four squealy girls left the washroom.

Bridget was done adjusting her makeup. She just stood there listening to the four girl's voices. Bridget immediately felt sad because five years ago, Bridget, Lena, Tibby and Carmen used to do that too. Gossip in the washroom. She missed her sisters so much. Leaving the washroom, she looked around to find this supposedly gorgeous man who was making out with this supposedly beautiful girl.

Scanning the room for the second time, Bridget spotted this man. He was far away but she could tell he was having a heated passionate moment. Suddenly, Bridget felt the urge to go up to the couple and tell them to find a room. Walking up to the couple and still clutching her hand purse, she approached the couple.

They didn't notice she was approaching them. Once she arrived at their table, suddenly her purse slipped out of her hand. It made a big sound on the marble floors. Quickly, Bridget bent down to retrieve her things. When she stood back up, she looked at the couple. They had broke apart. She looked at the woman. This woman was fairly beautiful. She had stunning black-layered hair with gold hoop earrings.

Bridget looked at the man. Her heart did a lurch and she dropped her purse again. It was Eric. This time, fortunately, her personal items didn't fall out. Standing up again, she looked at the Eric.

Eric said "Bee?"

Looking sheepish, she replied "Eric." Then she simply walked away.

Bridget couldn't sort out her feelings now. She was walking toward Billy, who had been patiently waiting for her to finish with her bathroom business. Bridget, now, was completely caught up with her thoughts. She thought she was completely over Eric. If she was, why did she feel like her heart had dropped down to her feet? Why did she feel so rotten and sad all of a sudden? Did Eric really only need a couple of hours until he found another girl? She walked back into her table, looking sullen.

Billy smiled at her, not knowing what was gog on. He said "Bee, finally, I thought it would be midnight by the time you arrive" Bridget returned to her seat and kissed him fully on the lips. What had happened to the fireworks she felt before?

"Sorry Billy." She replied.

Billy, being the gentlemen he always was, fought the urge of asking Bridget why she had taken so long.

After dinner was finished, Billy took Bridget to watch "Love Forever". They hadn't bought any snacks because they just ate dinner. Choosing seats near the top, Bridget sat down on her seat. Billy, wanting to be closer to Bridget cursed the seats for being so wide apart.

Bridget laughed at Billy's frustration and lifted the armrest. Billy and Bridget moved closer together. Bridget put her head on Billy's shoulder and he put his arm around her. Both of them comfy, they watched the movie. Through out the movie, Bridget felt like she was in heaven. She didn't want to go anywhere. Slowly, her thoughts drifted away from Eric.

Sooner than Bridget would have liked, the movie ended. Leaving the movie theatre, Billy and Bridget discussed the movie, laughing at the funny parts and smiling at the romantic parts. Once in the car, Bridget looked at Billy. Their eyes locked. She felt his lips on hers. She put her arms around his neck moving so that she was closer to him.

After a quick snog, Billy broke away desperately needing some air.

"We need to go." Billy said to Bridget.

Smiling, Bridget merely nodded. The fireworks somewhat returened.

As Billy was driving Bridget back to Greta's house, Bridget fell asleep happy with hopes of getting over Eric completely.

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	4. Soccer

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By: OrchidPrincess

Chapter 4: Soccer

oOo

It was 11:00AM when Bridget woke up with a warm feeling around her heart. She remembered briefly of how she fell asleep in Billy's car, how Billy had carried her into her room, gave her a kiss on the cheek and than left. Sighing happily, Bridget rolled over to her bedside and dialed Lena's phone number. "Hello?" A man with a soft manly voice answered.

"Hi! May I please talk to Lena and who is this please?" Bridget asked politely.

"This is Paul and I'll go call Lena." Paul answered. 2 years ago, Lena and Paul got engaged. Bridget was so happy for Lena despite her own broken heart. Lena needed a man who loved her deeply. Paul and Lena now lived in a small but artistic apartment. Lena graduated from art school 1 year before Bridget did. Lena now has a career as an artist. Even though the couple had been married for 2 years, they never had a kid.

"Hello?" Lena answered.

"Lena! How are you?" Bridget answered excitedly.

"Gosh Bee! I missed you so much! When are you coming back home? It just isn't fun if all of us aren't here! Tibby, Carmen and I miss you so much!"

"I'll be home in 13 days. I just arrived in Alabama yesterday"

"How are things going?"

"Umm, half great half bad" Bridget answered feeling suddenly uneasy when she remembered what happened with Eric.

"Why?"

"Okay, I met Billy at the airport and we became a couple."

"Oh Bee! I'm so happy!" Lena exclaimed. Lena had been urging Bridget to move on and get over Eric for the past 3 years. Lena knew the feeling, having been heartbroken over Kostos. Kostos still lives with his wife and kid in Greece. They haven't contacted since Lena went to college.

"After, Billy drove me to Greta's house. When I came in, Eric was there!"

"Ohmygoodness!" Lena gasped.

Bridget smiled. She loved it when Lena got really involved in a story. Bridget continued, "Then I blew up in front of Eric because I was so mad. He came because he wanted to get back together."

"Ya! Bridget conquers the evil man!" Lena joked enthusiastically.

"When Eric left, Billy took me to dinner. After I went out of the washroom, I saw Eric making out with this girl! I accidentally dropped my purse so Eric and this lady broke apart and stared at me! At first, I didn't know that it was Eric. So when I noticed it was Eric, I dropped my purse again!"

"Ouch Bee… but it's a good thing that your completely over Eric right?"

"Umm, when I left Eric, I felt like my heart dropped to my feet!"

"Bee… you still love Eric?"

"NO! Well, I'm confused now!"

"Bee, listen to me. Do NOT go back to Eric okay? He's going to break your heart again. He doesn't deserve you. Haha. Funny. You told me the exact thing when I was sad about Kostos."

"Okay, I won't go back to Eric" Bridget replied.

"I've got to go now. Paul wants to go out for lunch!"

"See you soon"

"Bye"

"Bye, and Bee, please, please, please think twice before making your decision." Lena asks.

"Okay." Bridget sighed, and rolled of her bed. It wasn't like her to wake up late. She guessed it was because she was happy despite the Eric problem. Bridget walked to her closet, put on her Brown's Soccer jersey, shorts, ankle socks, her blue suede sneakers, and tied her hair up into a high ponytail. Checking her reflection before leaving the room, she opened the door and went down to eat breakfast.

On the table, Greta had set Bridget some 2 omelets, French toast and a tall cup of milk. Bridget came over and hugged Greta hello. After Bridget finished eating, she watched television to digest all the food she ate and headed out toward the door for a run.

Bridget decided to run toward central park. Taking a minute to warm up and stretch, she let her mind relive her moments yesterday. _Everything had happened so fast_ Bridget thought. Beginning her run, she decided on a fast yet steady pace. Checking her watch, she ran.

After 4 miles, Bridget saw a figure running ahead of her. Squinting, Bridget noticed that the figure running ahead of her was Eric. Sprinting as hard as she could to catch up with Eric, she prepared herself to act calm. Surprisingly, her palms were clammy and she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. Bridget shocked that she was nervous. Once she caught up with Eric she said "Hey"

Eric looked up from his run. "Oh, hi Bee. I'm rather surprised to see you running at 11AM." He said formally, like they were strangers.

Bridget kept up with Eric's pace as they rounded the curb. "Eric, I can't stand us being like this. Can't we be friends at least?" Bridget replied.

"Friends? Sure." Eric smiled at Bridget and she felt flutters all over her body. "Now that we are friends, we need to figure out a few things. One, I have a girlfriend now. Her name is Jolene. Two, you have a boyfriend. His name's Billy right?"

"Yup."

"How long have you been running?"

Bridget checked her watch. "20 minutes, 5 miles"

"You want to get breakfast?"

"Ah, no thanks. I think I'll go help Greta with her house cleaning."

"Okay. See ya" Eric replied running the opposite direction.

Bridget stopped running. She couldn't understand this feeling she had whenever she was around Eric. Why didn't she feel this when she was around Billy? Bridget started walking back home. When she arrived, she felt alarmed that Greta was waiting outside for her. Bridget started sprinting towards Greta.

"What is it?" Bridget asked.

Greta replied "Phone".

Bridget sprinted inside the house and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" Bridget asked.

"Is this Bridget Vreeland?"

"Yes." Bridget replied. All of a sudden, all Bridget could hear was squeals.

"Bee! Remember me? I'm Diana! I'm the head coach here at Baja!"

"What?"

"You heard me. Anyway, I called because we need a coach for the weekend. It's an emergency. Our old coach has had an emergency family situation. If we pay for your flight, can you come all the way here to help coach? We're playing against a different team this time. This team's from Ensenada, Mexico."

Bridget thought about this for a moment. "Diana, you're head coach? Wow. And the answer's yes."

"Great! Thank you so much Bee! I'll see you in a day!"

"See you soon, bye Diana"

Once Bridget had stopped talking to Diana, she immediately phoned Billy to announce the happy news.

"Hello?" Billy answered.

"Billy! Guess what? I'm going to Baja!"

"What? When? Where?" Billy seemed alarmed.

Bridget laughed. "Don't worry. I'm only gone for 2 days. It's to Baja, Mexico. They need a new coach!"

"Oh. Whew. You scared me there. Do you want to go for lunch?"

"Sure. I'll meet you at the soccer field in twenty."

"Okay. Bye."

"I love you"

"Love you too"

"Bye"

Bridget, who was all happy, jumped up the stairway and put on a mini skirt and a tube top. She wore pretty blue flip flops to match her outfit. It was really hot out. She braided her hair on both sides and headed out the door.

"Greta! I'm going out with Billy!" Bridget yelled to Greta. Once at the soccer field, Bridget noticed that she was 15 minutes early. She immediately ran to the closest soccer-ball selling store and bought a soccer ball. Running back to the field, she started to play soccer by herself. She felt alive again despite the fact that she couldn't run very well with a mini skirt and flip flops. Frustrated, Bridget threw her flip flops to the side and ran bare foot.

Bridget was so caught up in her soccer playing that she didn't notice that a soccer team had begun practice on the same soccer field. After bumping into at least 5 soccer players, she looked around. _Oh oops. I didn't know that a soccer team was practicing here. I wonder who it is. _Bridget wondered.

Looking around for the coach, she spotted him talking to another player. Running to the coach to apologize, she came to a stop. _Not again. _Bridget thought. It was Eric. _Why am I always bumping into him?_ Bridget was so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't noticed that Eric had come up to her.

"Hi Bee. What are you doing here?" Eric asked

"I was here first! I was playing soccer!" Bridget replied.

"Oh." Eric said nonchalantly.

After a quick brief conversation, Bridget felt a force hit her knee making her buckle forward, onto Eric. Apparently, one of the girl players got jealous of them talking and kicked a soccer ball really hard towards Bridget's head hoping to have the intention of knocking her out.

Instead of hitting Bridget's head, the soccer ball hit her shins and knocked her into Eric. Eric, who had fast reflexes caught her. Bridget felt a strange warming sensation in Eric's arms. For a moment, she forgot whom she was going out with and how Eric and her had broken up. She didn't want him to let go and surprisingly, he didn't. She was feeling the warmth of his body heat when she heard a shout.

"BEE?"

Bridget let go of Eric's embrace and whirled around to see who it was.

It was Billy.

He was standing near the goal posts. Apparently, he came and saw Eric and Bridget's hug. He didn't come in time to see it was because of the soccer ball. Billy started to run back into his car. Bridget ran to her flip flops, put them on, and ran after Billy. By the time Bridget caught up with him, he already drove away. Bridget looked around her and every soccer player and Eric was looking at her. Feeling ashamed and confused, Bridget made her way back to Greta's house with her head holding some sort of dignity.

**

* * *

**


	5. Feeling Confused

* * *

Chapter 5: Feeling Confused

oOo

Slowly, Bridget made her way to Greta's house. She was confused and she hated herself. _Why was I so stupid to let Eric continue to hug me? Why did I hug him back? I don't love Eric anymore…right?_ Hating herself even more, she trudged up Greta's doorstep and sat down on the top doorstep. Holding her face in a mad expression, she kicked of her flip-flops she was wearing as far as she could.

Her right flip-flop flew quite a distance; it landed on top of the tree in front of Greta's yard. Her left flip-flop didn't go very far. It only landed 2 meters down Greta's front porch. Sighing even more, Bridget looked at her bare feet. Wiggling her coral-painted toes, she wondered if Billy would ever understand that Eric and her hug wasn't intended in the first place. Looking up, she saw that Billy was approaching her.

Standing up and straightening herself up, she looked at Billy in a curious expression. Billy, who was still wearing the clothes he had worn when he saw Eric and Bee hug, had his hands in his pockets and was walking toward Bridget with his head looking at his feet.

When Billy arrived in front of Bridget, he looked up at Bridget. Taking a deep breath, he said "Bee, when we talked in the car, I thought you didn't love anyone but me. You led me on. But today I found out that you still have some love left in you that belongs to Eric. I'm sorry, but I think this relationship isn't going to work. Bye Bee."

Bridget, who didn't say anything, just looked up and watched Billy walk away. _I guess this is over. I want to tell him that it was because of the soccer ball, but how can I explain about how Eric and I just hugged and stayed there? Oh, I am so stupid. But why am I not wanting to go run after Billy and beg for forgiveness? Why am I just sitting here, like nothing had happened? Why don't I feel the same depressed way when Eric dumped me? Why am I not feeling sad? Why don't I care? _Bridget looked up at the sky. The sun was just setting. She was so confused.

Sighing, Bridget walked very slowly into Greta's house and went into her room. Jumping on the bed, she just laid there, wanting to start this day all over. Reaching over to her bed table, she checked her cell phone for any messages. Apparently, Bridget had 2 messages. She listened to the first message.

(BEEP: Hi Bee. This is Eric. We need to talk. Can you call me back ASAP? Thanks.) Bridget listened to the second message

(BEEP: Hello Bumblebee! This is Carmen speaking. You remember me? Your best friend? Haha, I just called because I missed you. Call me back! Love you lots, Bye!)

Bridget decided to call Carmen back first. "Hello?" Carmen answered.

"Hi Carma. How're things going?" Bridget asked

"Things are good. I'm planning my own wedding now!" Carmen exclaimed. Win proposed to Carmen about a month ago.

"Haha, how much are you going to charge to plan your own wedding?" Bridget joked. Carmen worked as a wedding planner.

"Very funny Bee. How are things going in Alabama?"

"Things are terrible."

"Why?"

"Okay, I was waiting in the soccer field for Billy because we were going on a lunch date. I saw Eric's team have practice, so I went up to him and we talked. Then this soccer ball flew and hit my leg so I went flying into Eric. He caught me, but didn't let go. I don't know what got into me Carma. I hugged him. We stayed there for a long time. Then Billy came and saw me and Eric hug."

"Oh no Bee."

"That's not even the worse part. Later, Billy came up to me and broke up with me"

"Bee, that's terrible! Do you want me to go fly to Alabama and try and get things better?"

"No thanks Carma. I'm going to Baja, Mexico tomorrow. I have to coach. I'll be back on Monday."

"Baja, Mexico? Cool!"

"I've got to go. Eric wants to talk."

"Ok. Be careful okay?"

"Okay. See you soon"

"Bye."

"Bye" Sighing, Bridget slowly dialed Eric's cellphone number. Waiting nervously for Eric to pick up, Bridget wondered why Eric wanted to talk to her. "Hello?" Eric said.

"Hi Eric. This is Bee. You wanted me to call you?" Bridget replied. She didn't understand this happy but strange feeling she always had when she heard Eric's deep, husky voice. She guessed it was because she was sad that Billy and her had broken up.

"Oh, hi Bee. Listen, I don't want to talk on the phone. Can you come down to the café near Greta's house?"

"Sure. I'll see you there in five minutes." Bee replied. Shutting of her cell-phone, she told Greta, who was knitting, that she was going to meet up with Eric. Running out of the house, she ran to the café. Once she arrived, she looked at her watch. She was three minutes early.

Bridget decided to go find a table. She opted to sit in a table that was beside a plant shielding her view of half the café. Looking down at her clothes, she noticed that she still was wearing her mini skirt and tube top. She laughed silently when she noticed that she was bare foot. She forgot to put on her flip flops in the rush and she wondered silently where her flip flops were. _Oh I remember now. One was on top of Greta's tree and the other one was on her lawn. Oops. _

Scanning the room for Eric, Bridget spotted him walking in the café. Her heart did back flips. _Why do I always feel this feeling whenever I'm around Eric and never with Billy? I love Billy right? _She wondered.

Eric, who spotted Bridget, walked up to her.

"Hey Bee." He greeted, giving her a crooked half smile.

Bridget smiled in reply. Eric sat down on the seat beside her. He then asked "Do you want to get something to eat?"

Bridget said in reply "No thanks. I'm not hungry. I think I'll just get some coke." Eric nodded while Bridget got up from her seat and went to get a coke.

Once back, Bridget sat down, sipped some of her coke, and then looked at Eric. Eric, using this action as a cue to continue, he said "Bee, the reason I wanted to talk to you was because I just wanted to say goodbye. I'm going to go from Texas to Vancouver, to Ontario then to Oregon for the soccer championships."

Bridget, who didn't know whether to act sad or happy, simply nodded her head. Eric was staring at her with intensity in his eyes. Bridget, who always felt weird when someone was staring at her, decided to stare back.

Grinning, Eric stopped looking at Bridget, got up and said, "I have to go."

Bridget chugged her coke and stood up as well. "I have to go too." She replied.

Bridget hoped that when walking out side of the café with Eric, he wouldn't notice her bare feet. Reaching the exit door of the café, Eric held the door open for Bridget. She walked past him. Eric caught up to Bridget, grinned and said "Nice shoes"

Bridget smiling sheepishly replied in a joking tone "You like them? They're the latest fashion."

Eric laughed. Their eyes locked. Without thinking, Bridget leaned in and kissed him on the lips. She meant to pull away, but he grabbed her gently by the chin and kissed her back. Happiness flooded through her like never before.

Adruptly, Eric got to his common sense and whispered in Bridget's ears, "We can't do this. I have a girlfriend remember?" Bridget remembered the alike scene in Hotel Hacienda.

She simply smiled at Eric and said "Good-bye". Walking away, she felt happy. _Why am I feeling happy? I don't love Eric anymore! Why did I kiss him and embarrass myself? Why did he kiss me back then tell me it's not right? I am such a fool. _Banging her forehead a couple of times with her palm, she arrived at Greta's house.

Bridget climbed up the tree and retrieved her right flip flop. She walked across the lawn to retrieve her left flip flop. Walking into the house, Bridget decided to pack her bags to go to Baja tomorrow. Bridget decided on bringing only one bag to Baja because she was only staying there for 2 days.

She packed her running shoes, 2 pairs of shorts, her Brown soccer jersey and a t-shirt. She decided to bring something stunning just incase she would go to Hotel Hacienda. Looking around in her belongings, she decided to bring her white halter dress. This halter dress was the one she wore for her graduation party and when Eric told her he loved her a long time ago.

Getting into bed with her mind whirling, Bridget wondered what was in store for her in Baja, Mexico.

* * *


	6. To Baja

* * *

By: OrchidPrincess

Chapter 6: To Baja

oOo

Bridget woke up at around 2 hours before sunrise feeling all pumped up about going to Baja Mexico. She would see Diana and relive all her happy moments at the soccer camp even if it would remind her of Eric.

Feeling fresh and new, she walked to the bathroom and started up a bath. She poured extra lavender-smelling bubbles in the tub just because she was happy. Quietly humming a silly popular tune, she picked out the outfit she was going to wear when arriving in Baja Mexico.

Bridget decided on a cute I Love Soccer T-shirt and jean shorts. Grabbing her towel, she went into the bathroom and went into the tub. Sighing with relaxation, Bridget rested her head on the edge of the tub. After 10 minutes of complete relaxation, she decided to shave. Shaving, she continued to hum the silly popular tune.

Suddenly and accidentally, Bridget cut her leg. Wincing at the pain, she remembered what had happened yesterday and she was no longer in a peaceful relaxation mode. She felt stressed and confused. Washing her cut with clean water, she decided that she didn't need a Band-Aid. Bridget put on her clothes and went to the mirror to brush her teeth and comb her long messy hair.

Once finished, Bridget went down to the kitchen and greeted Greta. She politely reminded her grandma that she was off to Baja today and would be back in Alabama in 2 days. Greta nodded her head. Piling a high stack of pancakes on Bridget's dish, Greta told Bridget to take care of herself.

Nodding her head, Bridget stuffed her mouth with Greta's delicious pancakes and maple syrup. Once Bridget was full, she looked at the clock. It was 7:30 and her flight left at 8:30. Bridget decided it was time to go. Grabbing her bags, she gave Greta a kiss on the cheek then grabbed a taxi to go to the airport.

25 minutes later, Bridget arrived at the airport. It was 7:55 now. Sighing, Bridget found a seat and checked her cell phone. She had 1 message. Listening to her message, it said

(BEEP: Hi Bee. This is Diana. I was just making sure that you were notified that your airplane flight had been changed. Your airplane now leaves at 8:00. Well, I'll see you soon. Bye.)

Bridget instantly panicked. She grabbed her bags and sprinted to her terminal. Half way to her terminal, the flight attendant announced "Flight 787, to Baja Mexico will leave in 1 minute."

This announcement only made Bridget sprint harder. She dodged everyone in front of her and dashed to the door. Once she made it, she ran to the flight attendant who was just half way through closing the airplane door.

"Miss. Vreeland is it?" the flight attendant asked.

Bridget nodded.

"You're late." Remarked the flight attendant.

Bridget, who was still out of breath, nodded her head again. The flight attendant, who seemed annoyed by Bridget's tardiness muttered silently "blasted late comers" and opened the doors for Bridget to enter the airplane.

Bridget found her airplane seats and soon fell asleep.

Later on, the airplane pilot announced "the airplane will be landing in 30 seconds."

This excited Bridget terribly. She jumped up and down in her seat until the person beside her told her to stop. Bridget only grinned harder in reply. The plane landed. Bridget rushed out of the airplane and ran to get her luggage. Once complete, she looked around for Diana. She spotted Diana. Diana was dressed in jeans and her soccer jersey. Bridget immediately ran and practically jumped on Diana.

"BEE!" Diana screamed in shock.

A deep, baritone voice replied back amusedly "Bee? Run or else it will sting you!" He then faked a cowered pose.

Too caught up with the spur of the moment, Bridget and Diana ignored this funny man.

"DIANA!!!" Bridget screamed back, louder.

This once again, inticed the man to add in his humorous remark. he began to sing "Diana" (AN- The Song) and strummed his air guitar.

Once again, Bridget and Diana ignored him.

But this time, onlookers were now staring at the over excited young women.

Bridget laughed and stared at the particular man who was staring at her with amusement and was the one who said all the funny remarks close by to Diana.

She said "Who you lookin' at?" attempting to stop all the stares from the people in the airport. She hoped that this man would walk away.

Instead, to Bridget's surprise, he laughed an enriching laugh. The airport people stopped looking at Bridget and Diana. This man said after his burst of laughter "This is the Bee huh?" asking Diana, but looking at Bridget.

Bridget was shocked that he knew her name. She stared closely into his face. He had brown hair that was cut to perfection, and eyes with a gorgeous mystical touch. He wore a soccer jersey, just like Diana's and jeans that weren't too baggy and tight.

His grin lightened up the whole room and his teeth were straight. He was also very muscular. In fact, he looked like he came from a men's underwear ad. Bridget thought he was very handsome and cute.

Smiling her prettiest and thinking that she might as well use her flirtation skills, she said "Yes, I'm Bee. Otherwise known as Bridget. How are you and how do you know me?"

James answered "Nice to meet you Bee. I'm James, one of the most handsome coaches in Baja" he joked. Diana hit him hard on the arm.

"Yes, James you are. The most ugliest coach in Baja." Diana joked back.

"Hey!" James pretended to be upset but his eyes were glowing. "I thought the ugliest coach was Aldo" he added as an afterthought.

Bridget, who was watching James closely, felt an immediate attraction towards him. He was humurous and handsome. She smiled at Diana and said "Let's go. I want to see how my old soccer camp has been going."

"Okay" replied James and Diana in unison.

James took out the car key from his back pocket and said "Follow me" Bridget and Diana lagged behind.

Bridget whispered in Diana's ear, "He's so hot"

Diana giggled and whispered back "I know huh?"

James suddenly turned into a halt and spun around. "Talking about me eh ladies?" he said in a teasing tone. He turned around again and continued to walk to the car. Bridget looked at Diana and Diana looked at Bridget and they broke down laughing. They were laughing so hard, they had to sit down on the ground. Once calming down, Bridget stood up and held a hand to pull Diana up too. Looking at Diana, Bridget thought _this is going to be a great weekend. _Diana and Bridget ran to catch up with James.

They drove to Bridget's old soccer camp. Bridget looked around. Everything hadn't changed one bit. The beautiful beach, they freshly cut grass, and the breezy air. Bridget sighed. She felt like she was in paradise. James and Diana sensed that Bridget needed alone time so they left her alone.

Bridget walked slowly to her first old cabin. _The walls were repainted. _Bridget thought. She smiled to herself. Bridget put her hand and ran it through the outside walls. All the soccer campers/players were at practice. Bridget walked to her old coach cabin. She looked through the window and spotted her old bed, the one where she was having her fever.

She walked towards Eric's old coach cabin. She once again peeked inside the window and spotted Eric's old bed, the one he held her at night when she was having the fever. Bridget sighed and closed her eyes reliving the memory. She was so confused these days. She didn't know what direction she was going. Bridget thought _I thought I was over Eric 2 years ago. I'm sure about it. Why do I always have this very weird feeling whenever I'm around him? I never felt that way before. Not even around Billy. If I didn't feel that way towards Billy, then for sure it isn't love. I did love Billy right? But I can never love Eric again. He has a girlfriend. His one true love, I'm sure. What was her name again? Oh yes, Jolene. _

Caught up in her thoughts, Bridget walked towards the bulletin board that was placed outside the camp office. She glanced at it. There were lots of pictures and photos of soccer players but in the middle, there was a notice. Bridget read it. It said:

**Attention to all soccer campers!**

**This year, we are having a very special occasion! The soccer team that is going to the World Soccer Championship Finals has asked to us, the Baja Mexico Soccer Camp to grant them permission for their coming. This soccer team is the Kickers! They need our soccer teams to play them so they can warm up for the WSC Finals! (World Soccer Championship) Luckily for us, Eric Richman, the coach who coaches the Kickers has coached in our camp for 4 years. He knows our camp very well and has decided to use our camp as a warm up for his team! The Kickers! Each and every one of you campers is indeed very lucky. You will have a chance to meet and play against the Kickers! The Kickers are to be arriving tomorrow. So practice and be pumped up for this very special occasion!**

Bridget stood there shocked. She didn't know that the Kickers and Eric would be here! Bridget sprinted to Diana's office and came to a halt once she saw that James was also in the office.

Bee panted as she said "Hello James. May I speak to Diana?"

James didn't move. He simply looked at her.

"Alone?" Bridget included.

"Oh, alone." James laughed as he walked out of Diana's office and shoving his hands into his pockets.

Once James had left the office, Bridget turned and looked at Diana. "Diana! How come you didn't tell me that Eric and the Kickers would be coming?"

Diana giggled. "Why Bee! I thought this would be a nice surprise for you! You get to meet up with Eric your boyfriend! Didn't he already tell you?"

Bridget stood there all furious. "Diana! Didn't you know that Eric and I broke up 3 years ago?"

Diana's smile immediately left her face. "Bee! Why didn't you tell me? Oh this will be terrible!"

Bridget sighed as she recalled that Diana had never been updated on her life. "I'm sorry Di. I guess I was overreacting. I should have told you before." Bridget sat down on the chair across from Diana's desk. She took a deep breath and spilled everything that had happened to her 3 years ago. From the breakup to her mild depression about Eric, to meeting Billy on the airplane, and so on.

Once Bridget was done, Diana was horrified. "Oh Bee, I'm so sorry!" Diana exclaimed.

Bridget walked towards Diana and replied "It's all right Diana. You didn't know. Besides, I was overreacting. Remember, Eric and I are friends. We just left in an awkward scene." As Bridget said this, she was recalling the kiss Eric and her had shared.

"That's right!" Diana exclaimed, once again looking happy. "Come on Bee! I want to introduce you to the soccer campers and your team!" Diana said, standing up and pulling Bridget out the door. "Hurry up! The campers are in the mess hall!"

Bridget laughed at Diana's enthusiasm. She followed Diana to the mess hall. Diana stood on a table clanging her glass. "Campers! Please be quiet!" Diana screamed. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Diana. Diana took this as a cue to go on. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I want you to meet out new coach! Her name is Bridget! She will be filling in for our old coach Kevin, who had to leave due to emergency situations!"

Everyone in the mess hall turned and looked at Bridget, who was standing beside Diana.

Bridget stood on top of the table with Diana and said "Hi everyone! I'm Bridget, but please call me Bee!"

Everyone applauded in greeting. Bridget beamed. She felt so alive again. She hadn't felt this way since she went to college. Noticing that Diana and Bridget had nothing else to say, all the soccer campers continued what they were doing before Diana had interrupted.

Bridget jumped of the table with Diana and asked excitedly, "When do I get to meet my team?"

Diana replied, "You'll get to meet your team in 5 minutes. Come on, let's go to the soccer field and get you ready for your first soccer practice!"

Bridget, who felt all pumped up, said "I'll race you"

Diana nodded. "Ready, set, GO!" Bridget and Diana bolted so fast to the soccer field. Bridget, who was one inch taller than Diana, had longer legs and more built leg muscles, so she won by 2 seconds. Laughing, Diana pushed Bridget to the floor and they laughed, wrestling and trying to pin each other on to the floor.

A quick bell ring broke them apart as they both looked at each other and screamed "Soccer practice!"

As if on cue, all the campers spilled out and ran to the field Diana and Bridget were on. They crowded around Diana and Bridget. Diana, who was in charge, screamed, "Campers, go to your coaches! My team will meet at the far right corner! Bee's team, which is Kevin's old team, meet at the center field. All you other people follow your coaches! Practice starts now!"

There was a huge uproar as the soccer campers ran to their desired places. Bridget's team crowded around her. She shouted "It's too loud here! Meet me near the corner of the beach!"

After settling down and getting to know each and everyone of her soccer players, she instructed her team to start running. Leading the run, Bridget pushed her team harder than ever. She wanted to feel pride for her team, and to feel pride, they must win or lose trying their best.

Bridget took a deep breath as she jumped on to her cabin bed. She was exhausted. She had pushed and worked her team so hard; she thought her legs would fall of. Bridget was sharing a cabin with Diana. Diana had worked hard to polish up her cabin. The walls were repainted, the beds were new, and there were soccer balls pasted all over the walls. Even though Bridget had to admit the soccer balls were too much, she appreciated Diana's effort.

After soccer practice, Bridget and Diana had put forward an extra effort to clean up around the camp and to clear space for the Kickers. James' had volunteered to share his cabin (he gets a cabin all to himself) with Eric. James' cabin is the closest cabin to Diana's.

Bridget fell asleep very fast. She woke up in a startle and looked at the clock. It was only 4AM so she stayed in bed. Staring at the ceiling, she remembered that Eric and the Kickers were to be arriving at 8AM today. Feeling like she had been struck with lightning, she ran to the washroom and splattered water all over her face.

Immediately, Bridget calmed down. She and Diana had planned to keep it cool when Eric came. Diana thought it would be a good idea for Bridget to confront Eric and have a heart-to-heart conversation so Bridget wouldn't feel confused. Bridget had disagreed, saying that it would be awkward. So they both agreed that Bridget should keep it cool, and see what happens even though both of them had wanted to shove Eric over and slap him for being such a confusing, alluring fool.

As Bridget was brushing her teeth, she reminded herself over and over again that she did not love him. Bridget thought _I don't love Eric anymore. I just feel nervous that he's coming because of the awkward situation we had before he left. I just need to talk to him and tell him that the kiss was nothing. I'm going to be fine. Nothing bad will happen. I don't love him anymore. Eric is my friend. _Repeating to herself over and over again that she didn't love Eric, Bridget put on shorts and her soccer jersey and went for a run. While running she continued to repeat that she didn't love Eric and that he was her friend. Once finishing her six mile run, she ran back to find Diana.

Bridget found Diana waiting for her near a van.

Diana had spotted her and yelled "Bee! Come on! We got to go greet the Kickers and Eric at the airport! They arrive in 20 minutes! Everyone left already!"

This excited Bridget. She always wanted to meet the Kickers. They were after all, the most famous internationl league in the soccer industry. She hopped into the van and Diana drove them both to the airport. Once at the airport, it struck her. She was going to see Eric. Bridget reminded herself for the last on millionth time, she did not love Eric.

Walking around people in the airport with Diana, Bridget spotted the Kickers filing out of the departure door. She stood there with Diana.

One minute later, Bridget was thirsty. She told Diana she would be off to buy a water bottle and that she would be back in a flash. Bridget walked to the closest water bottle selling store and bought herself a water bottle. She walked back towards Diana. Bridget couldn't find Diana. _Where is she? _Suddenly, Bridget spotted her. Diana was talking to this tall, lean and very handsome man. Bridget felt her heart do flip-flops all over her body. It was Eric. Taking a deep breath, she walked slowly and cautiously towards Eric and Diana.

* * *


	7. Reunited Again

Love can Overcome Anything

By: OrchidPrincess

Chapter 7: Reunited Again

* * *

Bridget approached Eric and Diana. Diana's back was turned away from Bridget so she didn't see Bridget coming. Eric, however, saw Bridget the minute she stepped closer towards to Diana and him. Eric didn't come to Bridget. He simply waited for her to come to him and Diana.

"Hi Eric" Bridget greeted. She put on her happy face and smiled at him.

"Hi Bee. I thought you were in Alabama. Why are you here?" Eric asked. He had his hands in his pockets and was casually leaning against the wall.

"Diana told me she needed and extra coach so I took the job."

"Okay." Eric replied. One of his soccer players came up to him and whispered something in his ear. "Excuse me ladies, I have to go." Eric followed the soccer player to where he was leading him.

Diana immediately turned around to look at Bridget and said "Come on Bee, we got to go. We have to get our soccer players pumped up and ready to go."

Diana grabbed Bridget's arm and led her towards the car. She uttered a quick word to James telling him that they were going back to the camp. James, who was buying himself donuts nodded. Bridget and Diana arrived at the camp. They jumped out of the van and entered Diana's office to inform that the Kickers would arrive shortly. Diana also added a few words of respect, cooperation, and good team spirit.

Five minutes later, the Kickers arrived at the soccer camp in two huge classy vans. They filed out of the van carrying their bags in a big group. Eric was leading them. All the soccer campers were watching them with awe. After all, the Kickers were a world wide known soccer team. They won so many events.

Bridget was leaning against the closest wall supposedly watching the Kickers when she was really eyeing Eric. _How come I never noticed this before? _Bridget asked herself as she looking at Eric's spectacular form and handsome features. _Bridget! _She scolded herself _I don't love Eric anymore! Stop looking at him and greet the Kickers! _Bridget walked back to her cabin and got into shorts and a t-shirt. She needed a run to help herself think.

Bridget left the cabin and decided on a route that was right along the beach. She breathed in the warm salty air and the sound of the ocean. She closed her eyes and followed the air until BAM! She hit a person. Bridget, annoyed that she had hit someone opened one eye to see who it was.

It was James. Apparently, he wasn't looking where he was going so he crashed into Bridget. James was on the sand and rubbing his head in pain. They both had collided head on head. Bridget was beside James but instead of rubbing her head in pain, she was lying down and closing her eyes. She didn't want to destroy her relaxation. She suddenly felt a poke towards her side.

Then she heard James say "Are you dead?"

This filled Bridget up with laughter. She immediately cracked up. She opened her eyes to see James, who was trying hard to put on a worried face, and suddenly, Bridget had the urge to throw James into the water. Sense surged into her so she didn't do it due to two facts. One, he's too heavy to throw, two, he'll probably throw her twice as hard and twice as heavy.

James said, with laughter in his eyes "Bee, there are two packages for you in the camp office."

Bridget felt so happy. She thought _one of the packages must be the Traveling Pants! _She sprinted to the camp office.

"Jennifer, can I have my 2 packages?" She asked

Jennifer, the camp post person nodded and took out 2 packages from under the desk. One of Bridget's packages was a small, square-shaped package while the other was big and lumpy. Bridget grabbed her 2 packages and walked to her cabin. Diana was in her office, trying to deal with a problem. Bridget sat on her cabin bed with her 2 packages laid out in front of her. She decided to open the big and lumpy package first.

Inside this package were the Traveling Pants and a letter. It read:

_Bee, _

_The pants were a tremendous help. I wore them when Brian wanted to remeet with me at the diner. He apologized! He wanted to get back together as a couple. I didn't know what to say, so I told him I'll get back to him in 4 days. That way, you can help me Bee! See you in 3 days. Miss you a lot, _

_-Tibby_

Bridget smiled after reading Tibby's letter. She hopped right off the bed and put on the Traveling Pants. They magically still fit her and her sisters. Once inspecting herself in the mirror, Bridget jumped on her bed again to open her second parcel. There was nothing inside the box except for a letter and one small chocolate heart. The letter read:

_Dear Bee,_

_I'm sorry that I took a fast time to break up with you. I finally realized that I still love you and that I was so fast into assuming things that probably had a reason behind it. I was being a real jerk and I hope you'll take my apology and get back into being a couple again. I truly love you with all my heart. Please phone my cell right now, for I have something important to discuss with you._

_-Love always and forever, Billy_

Bridget hesitated for a moment. _Should I call Billy back? Is that what I want?_ Bridget decided that she should just probably phone Billy. She went to the camp office and borrowed Diana's phone.

"Hello?" Billy answered

"Hi Billy, it's me, Bee" Bridget replied.

"Hi Bee" Billy said in a flat tone. He was probably anxious to see if Bridget had forgiven him or not.

"Billy, there's no need to act like that. I forgive you already"

"Really? Thanks. I'm so sorry that I was acting like a first class jerk."

"That's all right. So, why'd you want me to call?"

"I'll tell you if you answer this question for me. Bee, do you still love me?"

"Oh, Billy, I still do" Bridget answered even though deep in her heart, she wasn't so sure.

"I still love you too, you know that?"

"Yes Billy. Stop stalling now! Why'd you want me to call?"

"Bee! I'm going to Baja!"

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"I know, but why are you going here?"

"It's because before I met up with you in the airplane, I filed for a soccer job on the internet. Yesterday, when you left, I got a call from Diana. She told me she needed another extra coach because this guy names James had to leave."

"James has to leave?"

"That's what Diana told me"

"When are you coming here?"

"Tomorrow. I'm so excited! I get to meet the Kickers!"

Suddenly, Bridget replied "Billy, I have to go"

"Okay, bye"

"Bye" Bridget answered. She put back the phone and sunk to the ground. Her hand was on her temple. She closed her eyes. _Everything will be so confusing if Billy's here. I don't even know if I still love Billy anymore. I could however, tell him it's against the camp's rules for soccer coaches to date. Then I would get more time to find out if I still love him. _Bridget thought this was an excellent plan. She stood up, dusted off her pants, and headed for the soccer field because she knew James would be there. She needed to talk to James.

Once at the soccer field, Bridget saw James screaming at two players to pass. She walked up to him. James turned towards Bridget and said "Wazzup?"

Bridget replied "James, I didn't know you had to leave"

"You didn't know that? Yes, I do need to leave'

"Why?"

"Some family thing occurred. I'm needed at home."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tonight"

"Oh James, I'm so sorry. Camp would be so much more fun if you were around."

"Nah, if I was still here, Billy, my replacement wouldn't have come. I heard you two have something special?"

"Not much" Bridget replied. She looked at her watch. It was 1:00 PM. Time for her to coach her own team. "I got to go James. But to be honest, I rather see you coach instead of Billy. See you."

Bridget walked towards another soccer field. This soccer field was supposed to be her own team's soccer practice field. Instead of seeing her team do soccer drills, she spotted them huddled over one side of the field. She saw that her soccer field has been occupied by the Kickers, who were doing drills her team was supposed to do. On the side of this field was Eric. He was yelling orders to his players.

Bridget marched up to Eric and playfully pushed him over. "This is my field. Go away!" she teased.

Eric looked at her in surprise and answered "No it's not! This is my old field when I used to coach here! I get first priorities!"

"Nuh uh. You are a guest here. Not a V.I.P person! This is my field. Move it!" Bridget teased.

Eric pretended to look sad. His lower lip quivered. Bridget laughed and playfully whacked him on the arm. She said "Fine, truce. I get the left half of the field and you get the right. Deal?" She stuck out her hand.

"Deal" Eric took her hand and shook it. He yelled at his team to move to the right side of the field. Bridget screamed at her team to start sprinting around the soccer field to warm up. Watching her team, Bridget was perfectly aware that Eric was right beside her, watching every move she made. This made her very nervous.

She didn't know why he was looking at her. She assumed he was inspecting her coaching skills. Turning her head, she caught Eric's eye and they both stared at each other. 15 minutes passed by and they still had locked eyes. Bridget who was still looking into Eric's eyes, she felt happiness and warmth spread all over her body. She didn't want to stop.

Bridget and Eric's eye lock broke because two of Bridget's soccer players screamed at her that they've been sprinting very hard for 20 minutes straight. This caught Bridget's attention. She looked around and saw that all of her players were exhausted and looked like they were going to pass out any second now.

Bridget yelled at her players sheepishly to go take a 10 minute break and to get some water. Eric, who was watching very carefully in this situation, told Bridget sarcastically "Bee, you have great coaching skills."

Bridget laughed as she shoved Eric hard. He lost his balance and went toppling down towards the ground pulling Bridget down as he went. This time, every single one of the Kickers stopped what they were doing and looked at Bridget and Eric.

Eric and Bridget were now laughing so hard, they both were rolling on the soccer field. The Kickers, who realized everything was fine, continued their drill. By now, Bridget had tears in her eyes and Eric was slightly red in his face. Bridget calmed down and hoisted herself up, grabbing onto Eric's hand to pull him up too. She looked at her watch. It was 3:00. Both Bridget and Eric had stopped laughing. Bridget looked at Eric and she knew, right then and there, that they were going to be great friends.

Night passed by and Bridget still laid in her cabin bed awake. Bridget smiled in her bed as she remembered the fun day she had. She frowned a little remembering that Billy was to arrive soon. Slowly, Bridget fell asleep anticipating the day before her.

* * *


	8. 1 Newcomer

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By: OrchidPrincess

Chapter Eight: 1 Newcomer

oOo

Bridget woke up with a startle. It was 10:30. She was supposed to wake up at 8:00 with Diana to pick up Billy at the airport. Bridget instantly panicked and grabbed the Pants and a soccer jersey to wear. She ran to the washroom and got changed.

When Bridget was rushing out of the washroom fully changed, she caught a glance at herself in the mirror. She looked atrocious! Her hair looked like a bee hive and her skin was looking all oily. Terrified, Bridget walked back to the sink and washed her face. She scrubbed her face like there was no end to the world. Bridget grabbed her hair brush and combed her hair. She combed and combed until her hair shone so brightly, it reflected from the mirror to the window up high in the washroom.

Finishing her touch with a hint of lip gloss and mascara, she was finally satisfied with her look. Bridget checked her watch again. Now it was 10:50. It had taken her 20 minutes to get ready. Sighing, she walked down to the mess hall where she knew that Diana would be there to introduce everyone to Billy as Diana had done for her.

Bridget entered the mess hall. She could only hear one female voice. It was Diana. Bridget peeked inside one of the big windows on the door. She could see Diana pointing to James, who was beside Billy. She scanned the room. Everyone was looking at Diana and the Kickers were eating, despite the fact that Diana was talking. She looked around for Eric. Eric was eating on the table beside the Kicker's table. He was eating with some of the other coaches. Eric caught her eye. He motioned for her to sit beside him on the empty seat. Bridget looked around to see if he was motioning to somebody else. Nope, it was her. She gave him a quick smile and walked into the mess hall.

Bridget stopped by to get some cereal and milk, a banana, and a fruit bar. She walked and sat down right beside Eric. He smiled at her. Bridget looked at Diana, who was still talking. Bridget looked at Billy and James. Billy was wearing shorts and a soccer jersey like everybody else. James, however, was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. He was about 1 inch shorter than Billy. James looked slightly sad. Bridget looked at James and he looked at her back. She motioned for him to smile. In return, she got a very big happy grin back. Satisfied, Bridget noticed that Diana had stopped talking and everyone started to eat again.

Diana, Billy and James grabbed food and went to the table Eric and Bridget were sitting on. Diana immediately went to the seat beside Bridget and James and Billy sat across from Eric, Bridget and Diana with the other coaches. Eric introduced himself to Billy. Billy seemed quite shaken and Eric was his relaxed, laid back, normal self. Bridget dug into her food. She was very hungry. She finished her cereal, milk, banana, and fruit bar but Bridget was still hungry. She stood up from the table and got herself an orange and another bowl of cereal. Coming back, she noticed Diana was grinning. Bridget looked at Diana questionably. Diana shrugged in return.

Throughout breakfast, both Bridget and Eric had a blast. They were making fun of each other and laughing about stupid things. Diana and James were busy engaging conversation with another fellow coach while Billy was just sitting there looking out of place and laughing silently a few times with Eric and Bridget. Time passed by very quickly for Bridget. Pretty soon, Bridget felt that she needed a long run to cool herself down.

"Eric, Billy, I'm going for a run. Anyone want to join me?" Bridget asked, looking at Billy and Eric.

"I will" Eric replied looking directly at Bridget

"Billy?" Bridget asked questionably

"Sure, why not" Billy answered looking at his feet. He seemed sad.

Bridget said "meet me here in ten minutes!" as she stood from the table. Walking towards the exit of the mess hall, Billy caught up with Bridget and said "Hey"

"Hi" Bridget replied. She had nothing to say to him in that moment. She walked toward her cabin. Billy had to turn the opposite direction to go to his cabin. Bridget walked inside and dug into her volley. She decided to wear the soccer jersey she had already worn with shorts. She tied her hair up into a high ponytail and made sure she looked alright. Finally, Bridget was satisfied with her look. She was extremely excited. This would be her first time running with both Eric and Billy. She walked out of her cabin and headed to the entrance of the mess hall.

Bridget arrived at the mess hall. Both Billy and Eric had arrived and were staring in different directions, waiting for Bridget. Billy was wearing his own soccer jersey from Alabama while Eric was wearing his old Baja soccer jersey. Eric was 2 inches taller than Billy and he looked slightly more built. She quickened up her pace and finally arrived. Eric and Billy looked at Bridget.

"Come on guys. Let's go! I know the perfect route! How long do you want to run?" Bridget asked the two guys

"It doesn't really matter to me" Eric replied

"Me too" Billy added

"Okay, let's go!" Bridget said. She started off with a medium pace finding herself in between Eric and Billy. Bridget thought that this pace was too slow. She quickened her pace a little bit and Eric and Billy caught up to her just as fast.

Down the hill they ran, and across the soccer fields. They ran to the beach and across its 4-mile length. They ran to the comforting small semi-forest, with trees and green grass. When running half-way through the semi-forest, Billy was extremely exhausted. Eric and Bridget however, could probably run another 4 miles.

"You guys go on. I got to drop out" Billy panted, out of breath.

Bridget and Eric slowed down their pace a little. Bridget said "Okay, Billy. Eric and I will just lap around this mini forest, across the beach and back to our camp. You can go back"

Billy nodded and headed off to the other direction. As Billy was off, Bridget took notice that now Eric and her were alone. Her heart speeded up a little bit. _I do not love Eric. And I don't know if I love Billy. In fact, I don't love anyone._ Bridget reminded herself.

"Why are you suddenly so quiet Bee?" Eric asked

"Hmm? What? Oh, nothing." Bridget replied.

"So, tell me about Billy. I only met him on our brief meeting at Greta's house" Eric said, recalling the day Bridget had exploded in front of his face.

Bridget blushed a little. "Hey! I'm sorry I feel bad about that okay? I guess I was having an off day."

"That's all right"

"Tell me about Billy" Eric asked for the second time

"Oh, Billy? Billy was my childhood friend. He and I were in the same soccer team when I was 7."

"Go on" Eric encouraged

"There's nothing else to say" Bridget said as she rounded the corner

"Really?" Eric asked, unconvinced.

"Yes. What else do you want to know?"

"Don't you guys have a relationship or something?"

Bridget sighed. She wanted to avoid this subject. "Yes, we did, but when you caught me when I fell, he thought we were hugging so we broke up. Now, Billy wants to get back together again, but I'm not so sure."

"I see. I'm sorry though"

"Don't be sorry. It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it wasn't" Eric joked. He tickled her on the side. Bridget screamed with laughter.

"I'm going to get you Richman!" Bridget screamed.

"We'll see about that Vreeland!" Eric laughed.

Throughout the run, Bridget and Eric chased each other attempting to tickle one another. They ran so hard; they both were beginning to get tired. Eric suddenly grabbed onto Bridget's arm and pulled her back. He tickled and tickled her until she begged him to stop.

"I'm not going to stop until you say Eric Richman can beat Bee Vreeland in anything she attempts" Eric said.

"No way! You wish!" Bridget shot back. Eric tickled her some more in response. She lost her balance and fell down pulling him down as well. Now, Bridget was lying on the grass with Eric on top of her. She looked into his eyes. He stared back. Bridget felt the urge to kiss him. She fought back hard not to kiss him right then, right there. _What am I doing? I do not love Eric anymore! _Bridget told herself for the one-hundred-millionth time.

Suddenly, Bridget couldn't stand it anymore. She leaned her head forward and found Eric's lips with hers. Fireworks erupted throughout her body. She slowly opened her mouth and was greeted with a warm feeling inside of her. His arms were wrapped around her body tightly and one of her arms was around his neck, moving his head closer to hers. Her other arm was on his waist.

Bridget felt out of breath and she let go. Eric moved from on top of her to lying beside of her. Together, they looked up in the sky. Bridget looked at her watch. It was 3:00 now. They were both 1 hour late for their coaching.

"Oh shoot" Bridget exclaimed.

"What?" Eric said, looking alarmed.

"We're 1 hour late for our coaching!" Bridget stood up.

Eric looked slightly panicked. He jumped up as well. Together, they both ran towards the soccer camp without knowing what the kiss meant or what would happen to them next.

* * *


	9. Italy and Jolene

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter 9: Italy and Jolene**

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**AN- first of all, I want to say thanks to all the people who have reviewed my story. you guys are the greatest! Enjoy, and Review Please!!!! **

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"Come on guys! Get moving! Our game is 2 hours away! We must get warmed up!" Bridget screamed at her soccer players. Her soccer players, once again, pushed their hardest as they sprinted back and forth on the soccer field. Bridget watched satisfied, then felt someone closing in on her. She turned around. 

"Hey" Eric greeted

"Hi" Bridget replied. Both Eric and she have been acting awkward ever since that kiss, from yesterday. Yesterday, they both had leapt up and sprinted down to the soccer field, where Diana was coaching for each of them. Diana was mad, but they were her friends, so she let them go instead of firing the two of them.

"So…" Eric said. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking down towards the ground.

"Yes?" Bridget urged

Eric cleared his throat. "Bee, I need to um, talk to you"

"Okay, where?"

Eric pointed towards the bleachers that were out of hearing range.

"Sure, just let me tell my players" Bridget said. "Everyone, grab a partner then start doing passes to each other!" Bridget instructed her players. She then turned to Eric and followed him to the bleachers.

"Okay, you wanted to tell me something?" Bridget asked

Eric sighed. "Bridget, I need to show you someone"

"Who?"

"Come follow me" Eric said in a flat voice. He began walking towards his cabin. Bridget jogged and caught up with him. She was worried. They both were acting awkward towards each other near breakfast, but now, he was just acting plain weird.

Eric opened the door of his cabin and went inside first. Bridget was directly behind him. She was very curious of this person Eric wanted to her to meet. Once she was inside, Eric was blocking her view. Then, she heard a very sweet voice.

"Eric, honey, who's this?" Bridget heard. Eric stayed silent. Immediately, Bridget gently pushed Eric over and moved beside him. She gasped in surprise. Bridget saw a woman, she was in her twenties, and she was stunningly gorgeous. She had black layered hair and a body that every woman envied. She wore mascara and lip gloss, with a hint of blush. She looked oddly familiar. She was pointing to this picture; it was a picture of Bridget and Eric long time ago, when they were still together. This woman looked at Bridget then to the picture then back again at Bridget. She then stared at Bridget.

"Honey, who's that?" Jolene said, pointing her red and long fingernail towards Bridget.

Eric, who was silent, said "Jolene, this is Bridget. Bridget, Jolene." He gestured towards both Bridget and Jolene.

Bridget looked at Eric in surprise. "Eric, is Jolene your gir…girl…" Bridget couldn't say it. Jolene then stood up from Eric's bed and hooked her arms around Eric's.

Leaning her head on Eric's shoulder, Jolene said "yes, I'm Eric's girlfriend."

Bridget immediately felt her heart drop a few miles. At breakfast, she was sure she loved Eric once again and that they would make a good couple. Bridget hid her disappointed face and said "Oh, um, congratulations to you two, and I have to go now" Bridget muttered. Walking towards the door, Bridget felt Eric's hand grip onto her arm.

"Bee, wait, there's something else I need to say" Eric said, very quietly.

Bridget spun around on her heel. "What?" She said, sounding a lot meaner then she had intended to sound.

"The reason Jolene is here is because tomorrow, the Kickers and I are going to leave to go to Italy tomorrow, for the championship games" Eric said. Jolene's arm was still hooked onto Eric's and she was still leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Well, I guess you have to go. Good luck at the games" Bridget said flatly. This time, Eric pulled away from Jolene and pulled Bridget out of the door. He closed it shut, locking Jolene inside, then whispered to her worriedly "Bee! Why are you acting like this?" Bridget merely shrugged. She was looking at the ground.

Eric did not give up. He lifted her face up with his fore and middle finger so that she was looking directly at him. "Bee, tell me!" Eric said in a commanding, but gentle voice.

Bridget gazed into Eric's eyes. "Eric, nothing. There's nothing going on." Bridget lied. "I hope you have a fun trip to Italy with Jolene" Bridget said, emphasizing the word Jolene. Pulling away from Eric's grasp, she walked away and this time, he didn't go after her.

Bridget walked back to her team, and told them to stop practicing and to meet her at the game in half an hour. They agreed unanimously. Bridget tidied up a little bit, then went for a walk around the beach. _That's it. I give up. Eric's a mean, ungrateful guy, who's probably having a laugh about our kiss with Jolene right now. How could he do this to me? I was willing to give him a third chance but, no. He brings me to meet Jolene. Why did Eric continue kissing me if he was already with Jolene? Was everything that happened yesterday a joke? Am I a joke to him? I can't let myself go all over Eric again. He doesn't deserve it. I don't even need him anyway. From now on, there's no one in my life. Not even Billy. He wasn't fair to me and now I'll be unfair to him. I'll live a single live and live until I'm an old lady who always hated boys. I hate all boys. Especially Eric. Mostly Eric. _Bridget walked to Diana's office and used her phone. She decided to phone Lena.

"Hello?" Lena said, as she picked up the phone

"Hi Len, it's me Bee"

"Oh! Hi Bee! You phoned just in time! Tibby and Carmen are here too! You're on speakerphone"

"Hi" Tibby greeted

"Hi Bee" Carmen said

"So, Bee, why are you calling" Lena asked

Bridget took a deep breath; put Lena, Tibby and Carmen on speakerphone because it was easier to talk that way, then plunged into the whole story about Eric and Jolene. Once she was done, all she could hear was silence. "Uh, guys?" Bridget asked

One minute later, she heard Tibby grumble angrily "Eric, oh I hate him. I'm going to kill him."

Right at that instant, Eric walked through the door alone and said "who wants to kill me?"

Bridget looked up and gasped. All she could hear was Lena, Carmen and Tibby wondering out loud about who had said that. Bridget spoke up "Lena, Carmen, and Tibby that was Eric." Now there was a deafening pause. No one spoke a word. Eric was just leaning on the door, which he had closed. He looked extremely curious. Suddenly, Bridget heard Tibby scream "ERIC!!! YOU ARE BY FAR, THE STUPIDEST MAN IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!! HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH OUR BEST FRIEND THEN GO TO ITALY WITHOUT SOLVING IT??? YOU'RE A MEAN, UNGRATEFUL IDIOT WHO'S MESSED UP BEE'S LIFE THREE TIMES!!! DON'T YOU DARE GO NEAR HER AGAIN!!!" That was all Bridget could stand. She put the phone out of speaker mode then whispered to Lena, Tibby and Carmen, (Tibby was still screaming) "Guys, I have to go. I'll phone you back". She put the phone back then turned towards Eric. Eric was frowning slightly, and he had his arms crossed.

"Bee" Eric said quietly "What did I do to you this time?"

Bridget immediately lied "nothing Eric, nothing. Tibby was going on about…something else"

Eric looked dissatisfied. "You sure?" he asked

"Yes, I'm sure" Bridget lied again. She didn't want Eric to know that she had fallen in love with him once again.

"Well, okay" Eric said. He still looked dissatisfied. Even though he didn't believe Bridget, he didn't push her to go on. Instead, Eric walked over to Bridget, bent down and hugged her. Bridget pushed him away. She didn't want him near her again. She was about to start crying when she heard someone scream "Eric, darling, where are you?"

It was Jolene. Eric stood up and Jolene walked through the door. Bridget stood up too, dusted herself off, and nodded bye to Eric and Jolene. She walked out the door. Once she was out of ear shot, Bridget screamed at the top of her voice to get the frustration out. She hated Jolene. Jolene just came in and destroyed everything that could have happened if she wasn't there. Eric and Bridget would be a happy couple.

Bridget now hated Eric and Jolene more than ever. She despised their happy relationship. Now, Bridget was more determined than ever to beat the Kickers in their tournament today. Even though it sounded pathetic that a small un experienced soccer team could beat a professional, world winning team, Bridget still wanted to win.

30 minutes later, it was time. The tournament between the Kickers and her team were about to begin. Bridget looked at her players, who had determined looks on their face, she looked at the crowd, who was looking extremely bored, and then finally, she looked at Eric, who was talking to Jolene. Bridget was extremely disgusted.

DING! The bell that signaled that the game was about to begin rang. Her team took their spots on the soccer field. The game was beginning.

Halfway through the game, Bridget was frustrated. The score was 7-0, in the Kicker's favor. Bridget knew that she would never be able to survive if her team didn't score one goal. Determined, Bridget knew she would only have one choice to bring her team up from 0 to 1. She would have to put her best players out there, but this time, she would be joining them. Bridget signaled to the referee that she needed a time out.

Bridget's team gathered around her. "Listen up guys, I know that we are going to lose, but I'm determined to make that losing score a 7-1. Understand?" The team mumbled their agreement. Bridget pointed out her best players and told the team that she would be playing too. Her team looked surprised, but no one said anything about it.

Bridget stood on the soccer field with her star players. She had put Melissa on goal, because her reflexes were fast, along with Danna, Angela, and Nancy, who were amazing at soccer. Bridget got ready. She waited for the coach to blow the whistle. Finally, the whistle was blown. Bridget ran as fast as she could to the player with the soccer ball. She pulled the ball out between his legs and ran to the goal. Shooting with all her might, the ball was still intercepted by the goalie. Bridget, who was disappointed, threw another fast ball, aiming for the left side of the net. Once again, the ball was caught.

2 tries later, Bridget couldn't get the ball past the Kicker's goalie. He had amazing reflexes. Bridget was frustrated. She was one of the best young soccer players in the world, but she couldn't get a ball past Eric's goalie. The Kicker's haven't scored another goal yet, because Bridget put on her two strongest defense and a really good goalie. But the real reason the Kicker's haven't been able to score another goal was that Bridget kept taking away the ball from their possession. She was fast, and skilled. This time, one of the Kickers took the ball away from Bridget and ran to the soccer net. Bridget ran after him. Suddenly, she heard Jolene scream at the Kicker, "Go! Shoot the ball! Get the ball away from that loser girl!"

This fired Bridget up. She sprinted to the Kicker and stole the ball from his possession. She dodged and passed every single one of the Kickers, shot a fast ball at the Goalie, and this time, she scored. The crowd's cheering was deafening. Bridget once again, felt alive on the soccer field. She forgot everything that had kept her moody the past few days, and she forgot about Eric, Jolene and Billy. All she was thinking was to score another goal. Bridget took herself out off the game. She studied with all her might to see if the Kicker's goalie had a weakness.

Suddenly, it came to her. The goalie couldn't catch the ball if it was shot directly near is left leg. His left leg seemed uncoordinated with the rest of his body. Bridget put herself back in the game and once again stole the ball. She shot the soccer ball near the goalie's left leg. She scored. Bridget cheered. Ball after ball after ball, Bridget used her same technique. The score was now 7-7. It was a tie. By now, Eric was frowning, wondering why his goalie couldn't save Bridget's shots. The crowd had shouted their selves hoarse, and her players were jumping in their seat for joy.

At first, Bridget planned to leave the rest of the game for her team to play because she didn't want the Kickers to lose, but when she saw Jolene, she didn't want to lose. Bridget jumped back into the field and shot one last goal near the goalie's left leg. She scored, and then the buzzer rang signaling that the game was over. Bridget's team was rushing down the field, congratulating Bridget. Once most of the crowd had left, and her team was in the change rooms, only Diana, Jolene, and Eric were left out on the soccer field. Bridget bent over to pick up her stuff. Someone was behind her. Looking around, she saw Eric.

"Congratulations Bee" Eric said

Bridget turned and looked at Eric. "Thanks." Bridget then turned around again to continue gathering her stuff. Eric was still standing there. Silence was all that could be heard.

Finally, Eric blurted out "Bee, how'd you score all 8 goals? My goalie was hand picked from Brazil. He's the best goalie in the soccer league right now"

Bridget turned around slowly again to look at Eric. He looked very frustrated and confused. His arms were crossed. Bridget remained silent.

"Bee, come on. Tell me. My team's going to play for world championship tomorrow and we'll lose if I don't know what's going on with my goalie" Eric said as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

This time, Bridget gave in. Eric wasn't rude to her, he was just plain stupid. It wasn't all Eric's fault that he chose Jolene over Bridget. "Your goalie. He sucks when the ball is shot directly near his left leg. Usually soccer players don't aim right near his left leg because they think he would just stretch out his left leg then intercept the ball. Not me, I'm too good for your team" Bridget joked. Then she said, "And next time you ever attempt to beat me in soccer, remember, I'm as good as you are. Probably better" Bridget added as another joke.

Eric looked at her disbelievingly. "I don't believe you. My goalie is the best one anyone has ever met"

Bridget shrugged. "Okay, don't believe me. How do you think I scored all those goals in a row?"

Eric stared at Bridget for a moment. He turned and yelled "Tyler, come out here for a moment!"

The Kicker's goalie came out. Eric pointed to Bridget. "Tyler, tell me why Bee here, could score 8 goals on you when no one else could."

Tyler replied "I don't know. She scares me. Is she magical?"

Bridget laughed. Eric once again frowned at both Bridget and Tyler then said "Tyler, go to the net"

Tyler obeyed. Eric took a ball and shot it directly near Tyler's left leg. He scored. Eric took another one and shot it again, at the same spot. He scored again. He walked towards Bridget and said "you're right. I'm sorry that I doubted you"

Bridget teased back "It's not your fault. You only thought I was naturally awesome at soccer and that I could score any goal I wanted to"

Eric smiled in return. By now, Jolene and Diana were getting bored on the stands so they left. Tyler left and went to go change out of his jersey.

"So tomorrow, you're going to leave for Italy?" Bridget asked

"Yup." Eric said in return.

"Okay, I have to go" Bridget said. She began to walk away when Eric pulled her back. He looked into her eyes and said "Bee, we're still friends right?"

Bridget winced at the word friends but she hid her disappointed face and smiled back at Eric. She said "Yes." Once again, Bridget walked away and this time, Eric didn't pull her back.

On her way back into her cabin, Bridget bumped into Billy. She looked at him in surprise. "Oh hi Billy. Where were you at the game?"

Billy replied "I was there. You probably just didn't see me"

Bridget nodded and said "Where did you sit?"

Billy replied "Near the far corner. Bee, we need to talk. Now."

"Okay" Bridget replied. She followed Billy to the entrance of her cabin. She waited for him to say something.

Billy got straight to the point. "Bee, when I came to this camp, I thought you and I would had have a great time"

Bridget asked "aren't you already having a great time? I know I am…kind of"

"Bee, I meant us, as in both of us…together"

"Oh"

"So, what happened?"

"I don't know…I guess that when you broke up with me without even bothering to see the truth, I stopped loving you"

"You don't love me anymore?" Billy asked in a sad tone, his eyes were hopeful

Bridget slowly shook her head. Putting one hand on his shoulder, she said "But we can still be great friends"

Billy replied, "Yes, maybe you're right. Maybe we weren't meant to be together."

Bridget smiled in agreement then headed off to her own cabin to pack her bags. She was leaving this camp tomorrow, before sunrise. Eric, Jolene and the Kickers were going to leave before her, so she would have to say goodbye. Billy, however, will have to stay in this camp for another one week.

**

* * *

**


	10. Home Sweet Home

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Ten: Home Sweet Home**

* * *

It was 5 in the morning and Bridget was doing her last minute packing. She looked inside her 2 bags. One of them contained dirty laundry and the other contained clothes that Bridget hadn't worn yet or they were just clean. Bridget dug around her "clean" bag and pulled out something near the bottom. It was her white halter dress. She took it out and looked at it real hard. This dress was the one she wore to her graduating party and the one she wore when Eric told her he loved her and explained everything. Sighing, Bridget put it back into her bag. She had brought this dress because she intended to wear it if anything special happened. Nothing did. 

Diana poked her head into Bridget's cabin and said "Come on Bee, we've got to say bye to the Kickers"

Bridget looked up at Diana hopefully, and said "Only the Kickers?"

Diana laughed and replied "no, Bee, you're going to have to say goodbye to Eric and Jolene."

Bridget laughed and joked "yes mother"

Together, both Diana and Bridget walked out of their cabin and headed to the entrance and exit of the camp. There was a humongous bus waiting for the Kickers. The Kickers were lined up and saying goodbye to their new friends they made at the camp. Jolene was no where in sight. Eric was saying goodbye also. Bridget just froze in her tracks. She didn't want to say goodbye. In fact, she didn't want to ever see Eric again. Determined to not say goodbye and good luck to Eric, Bridget set off walking towards the end of the line and saying goodbye to every one of the Kickers.

"Bye, Good luck!" Bridget said to one of the Kickers

"So long, good luck!" Bridget said to another. On and on Bridget went until she was at the last Kicker. It was Tyler, the goalie who Bridget scored 8 goals against.

"Hi" Tyler greeted

"Hi, and good luck on your championship game! Bridget replied.

Tyler laughed. He said "I hope there aren't any players on the opponent team that are good as you are."

Bridget laughed with him and said "I hope so too."

"It was nice meeting someone who could score over 2 goals on me"

Bridget laughed and waved goodbye. She walked to Diana, who was staying silent. Diana turned to Bridget and said "did you say goodbye to EVERYONE?"

Bridget replied "maybe"

Diana laughed, and said "I really don't care if you don't say goodbye to Eric. Personally, I think you should, but it's your choice. I got to go do some paperwork now. See you later" Diana walked to her office.

By now, the Kickers were piling in their humongous bus. Eric didn't follow them. Instead, he walked towards Bridget and asked "No goodbye for me?"

Bridget remained silent. She shifted her feet and looked at the ground. She was still wounded that he had kissed her then introduced her to his girlfriend.

"Bee, come on, what's wrong?"

"Nothing"

'Then how come you won't say goodbye?"

"Why do I need to say goodbye to you?"

"Why won't you say goodbye to me?"

"Fine" Bridget gave in and in a voice so flat and with no feelings, she said "Bye Eric. I hope you have a good time in Italy." She looked around, but avoiding Eric's gaze.

Eric looked dissatisfied. "That's it? No hug, no nothing?"

Bridget shot back "What makes you so special?"

This time, Bridget felt bad. Eric looked worried and partially upset. He stepped forward and gave Bridget a hug even if she didn't want him to. Bridget pulled away. "You've got to go" she said, hoping that he'll leave her alone

Eric looked at his watch. "5 more minutes" He then attempted to give her another hug. This time, she didn't pull away. "Keep in touch okay?" Eric said

"Okay" Bridget replied even though she wanted to get Eric out of her life. She broke apart and said "good bye"

Eric nodded and jumped into the bus. The bus then drove away. Slowly, Bridget trudged back into her cabin and pulled her bags out into the entrance/exit of the camp. Diana got the car and once again told Bridget to say good bye to everyone. Bridget dropped her bags and said goodbye to every person on her team and all the coaches excluding Billy because she didn't know where he was.

Billy was waiting for her in front. Bridget looked at Billy and said "Well, goodbye" Billy nodded and said "Keep in touch" he then opened the door for Bridget to get in. Bridget hopped in the car and told Diana, "Let's go" Diana nodded and drove Bridget to the airport.

Once at the airport, Bridget looked at Diana and said "bye Di. I'll miss you so much" Bridget gave Diana a hug.

Diana then said "Thanks for the help, and I'll miss you too. Keep in touch"

Bridget nodded and headed off to her airplane. Once inside the airplane, Bridget fell immediately to sleep. She woke up 2 seconds after the airplane landed. Bridget was extremely excited. She would finally get to see Tibby, Carmen and Lena again after a long time. Bridget hopped of the airplane, grabbed her bags, and went searching for her best friends. Looking around, she spotted three girls. One had dark, olive skin and blackish brownish hair, another had a beautiful body and gorgeous dark brown hair, and the last one was shorter than the two and wore baggy clothes. Yes, it was Lena, Carmen and Tibby.

Bridget dropped her bags to the side and ran towards the three of them. She jumped on top of Lena, Tibby and Carmen, giving them a big hug.

"Bee!" Carmen and Lena squealed in delight

"Bumble Bee!" Tibby greeted giving Bridget a bug hug.

"Wow guys, it's been so long since I've seen you guys" Bridget said.

Bridget hooked arms with Tibby and Lena while Lena hooked arms Carmen. Now, they were all in a line. The jumped back and forth towards the car, giggling and laughing like they were little kids again. Neither of them paid any attention to the stares that they got. Once in the car, Bridget exclaimed "oops! I forgot my bags!"

Tibby laughed and said "Bee, if you haven't noticed, Paul, Brian and Win are here. They were trailing behind us. I saw Win pick up your bags."

"What? They came along? Where?" Bridget looked around then spotted Win, Paul and Brian in the car behind them. She leaned against the window and waved hello.

Lena, who was in the driver's seat, said "Let's go"

In the car, Bridget asked everyone about their life and learned that:

Carmen was getting rich with her job as a wedding planner. She was also engaged to Win and her wedding was scheduled tomorrow. Win was a hospital nurse, and he specializes with little kids. They have their own house.

Tibby and Brian had stopped fighting. They remarried when Bridget was at camp. Tibby and Brian live in an apartment. Tibby works as a producer of channel 10. Brian has his own comic book.

Lena and Paul have their own house, they are already married and they are talking about a child of their own. Lena has a part time job as an artist. Paul is an architect, so their house is big and expensive.

When hearing all this, Bridget felt left out. Every one of her sisters had a husband or fiancée, owned a house and had a successful job. Bridget however, didn't even have a boyfriend. She has a house, but her dad paid for it, so it belongs to him and she has to share it with her dad and Perry, her brother. She doesn't even have a proper job. Lost deep in her thoughts, she didn't even notice that they arrived at her house.

"Hello? Earth to Bee! Are you there?" Tibby asked, waving her hands over Bridget's face.

Bridget snapped out of her trance, laughed and got out of the car. She walked over to the men's car and got her bags. Bridget then said goodbye to her friends and walked into her house. Everything stayed the same. The eerie silence, the messy living room, the unwashed dishes, yes, it was her house. Bridget yelled out "I'm home!" her voice echoed throughout the house. She trudged up the stairway and went into her room. It was cold and there was practically an inch of dust everywhere. Coughing, Bridget went inside and dropped her bags. No one came into her room while she was gone. It stayed there, untouched. Bridget went into her closet and got out a duster. She dusted everything until not a speck of dust could be seen. She poured out all her dirty laundry into the washer then decided to pour all her clean laundry into the washer too because she didn't want to hang them up.

Finished, Bridget jumped on her bed, and looked at her bedside. On it, was a picture of Eric and her. She was leaning on his shoulder, and his arms were wrapped around her waist. Eric and Bridget had broken up when she was still in college. Bridget looked at the picture frame and then purposely dropping it, hoping that is would shatter into two. Instead of breaking directly into two, like all the movies, it had a slight crack on Eric head. Bridget sighed. She took the frame and put it deep in her closet.

Bridget decided to look around the house. She came to Perry's room. She carefully opened his door a little bit and peeked inside. There was still the stinky odor and the messy room. Perry was asleep on his bed. Bridget carefully went inside and looked around. Everything looked the same except one thing. There was a picture. She looked at it. There was Perry and a girl. Bridget slowly flipped the picture over. It read "_Dear Perry, I'll always love you and I hope you feel the same way to me. I want to live my life with you. You make me happy. Love always and forever, Rebecca" _

Bridget gasped and dropped the picture. This woke Perry up. He peeked around and looked at Bridget. "You're home" he said.

"I know I am" Bridget replied. She then knelt down and picked up the picture. She gave it to Perry and asked, "Is she your girlfriend?"

Perry brightened up a little bit and nodded, slightly blushing. Bridget said "Aw, you have a girlfriend. How long? Do I get to meet her?"

Perry replied in a very quiet voice "it's been 3 years. You can meet her if you want"

Bridget smiled, went over to Perry and gave him a hug. She then left the room. Bridget was feeling happy for Perry. Rebecca changed him a lot. He seemed a lot brighter and happier ever since Marly died. Bridget was also feeling sad because now Perry had a girlfriend and she did not have a boyfriend. It was always her having a boyfriend and Perry not having a girlfriend at all.

Bridget sighed. The doorbell rang. She ran to answer it. It was Lena and Paul.

"Hi Lena and Paul" Bridget greeted

"Bee, do you want to come over to our house?" Paul asked

"Sure, I'd love too" Bridget said in reply. She followed Paul and Lena to the car and got in. They all were silent during the car ride. The car stopped in front of a beautiful and big white house. Bridget gasped and said, "Whoa. What a gorgeous home"

Bridget followed Lena and Paul into their house and was greeted with a beautiful and soft white carpet beneath her feet. She looked around. The detail was spectacular. Lena, who was always clean and organized, had her house in tip-top shape. The living room had 2 stone fireplaces and a comfy beige couch with a bear rug underneath. The living room had a sun window (the really high windows) and gorgeous Greek pillars to support the high ceiling. Lena had a gourmet kitchen, the theme was white and light colors. The kitchen had a tile floor. Upstairs, there were 4 rooms. One was a small guest room. Another was a room for Paul's designing and Lena's drawing. The third room was a den, with a flat screen computer, 2 comfy chairs and bookcases of books. The last room was Paul's and Lena's room. They had a two door entrance for their room with fancy knobs. Inside, there was a queen sized mattress, with a light pink and white covers. There were matching bedside tables and lamps on each side. Towards the right, there was a beautiful washroom. This washroom was blue with beautiful painted fish on it. Bridget silently, but sarcastically wondered who did the fish. Bridget turned towards Lena and Paul and said "I'm speechless. What a wonderful home"

Both Lena and Paul thanked Bridget. Bridget's cell rang. She answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi Bee! Where are you? I want to show you my house!" Carmen said excitedly.

"I'm at Lena's house. I'll ask Lena to drive me to your house okay?"

"Okay"

"Bye" Bridget turned to Lena and asked "Lena, can you drive me to Carmen's house?"

Lena replied "sure"

Bridget followed Lena into the car and Lena drove Bridget to Carmen's house. Bridget looked at the house while Lena drove away. Carmen had a small, but cozy exterior of the house. Bridget rang the door bell. Win answered it. "Hello Bee. Come in" he said. Bridget walked into the house and took a look around. The house was small, but fit for two people. Carmen was in the kitchen, cooking spaghetti. "Hi Bee!" she greeted.

Bridget looked at the dining room. There was a simple couch with a TV in front of it. The carpet was a deep purple; Carmen's favorite color. There was a curving stairway leading upstairs. Bridget walked up and saw that there were only two rooms. One was the master bedroom and the other was an unused room. Bridget looked into Carmen's and Win's bedroom. There was a queen sized bed with purple covers and purple pillows to match. Bridget noted that Win must love Carmen a lot to let her decorate the house as though they were living in a purple marshmallow. This deeply upset Bridget. She didn't have a husband or fiancée and she was far away from getting one. In fact, she didn't even have a boyfriend.

Bridget walked downstairs and complimented Win and Carmen on their house. Carmen flushed in return. Bridget then asked Win if he would drive her to Tibby's apartment. He agreed and told Bridget to get into the car.

Once Win drove Bridget to Tibby's apartment, she thanked him and knocked on the door. Tibby answered it. "Bee! You're here! I was trying to call you but Perry said that you weren't home."

Bridget smiled then asked "so, can I come in now?"

Tibby laughed and replied "sure". Tibby moved to the side and allowed Bridget to come in. Tibby and Brian's apartment was small but cozy for the two of them. The small kitchen and living room was all that could be seen.

"Tibby? This is your apartment? Where do you sleep?" Bridget asked in shock

Tibby merely laughed and said "It's small, but really comfy. Brian and I sleep on the sofa."

"How can you both sleep on a sofa?" Bridget asked

Tibby laughed some more. "Bee, it's a sofa/bed. If you roll out the bottom, it's a normal queen sized bed."

Bridget nodded and looked around. In the kitchen, there were a gazillion magnets on the fridge and dishes were left unwashed. There was a huge pile of newspapers on the floor. In the living room/ bedroom, there was a TV, computer and a small table full of chocolate.

Bridget said "Tibby, what a cozy apartment. Fit for the two of you."

Tibby immediately agreed. She then said to Bridget "Bee, I forgot to tell you this but when I called you and Perry answered, he told me that you should come home ASAP." This made Bridget feel alarmed. She quickly thanked Tibby and asked her if she could drive Bridget home. Tibby agreed.

Once Bridget arrived at home, she looked around. There was nothing odd. She jumped up to her room and looked around. There was a single package lying on her bed. Bridget opened the package. Inside, there was a Kicker's soccer jersey and a note. Bridget looked at the jersey. Then she picked up the note. It read:

_Dear Bee,_

_You must be extremely confused right now so I'm going straight to the point. Early in the morning today, you refused to say bye to me. I was immediately worried. Did I hurt you in some way while we were in Baja? After you said goodbye to me and I went on the bus, I was thinking hard. I finally got the point. That day when Billy, you and I were running, we kissed and the day after, I introduced you to Jolene. That was wrong of me. I should have explained. Here's my explanation: On the bus ride and the airplane ride, I realized, I love you with all my heart. I want to be with you. I ruined your life for the third time. When we broke up many years ago because we couldn't be together for more than one day a year, I never stopped loving you and to this very point, I still do. After I reached Italy, I immediately broke up with Jolene. I guessed that when we broke up, I felt a need for someone, to care for me and to help me forget about you. I found Jolene. She was so…available. Little did I know that Jolene would end up ruining something for both of us. I love you Bee, but I can't bear getting back together and ending up with me making a huge mistake and losing you again. I don't deserve you. You deserve a guy who cares and treats you with love and respect. I'm not the guy. I can't ruin your life again. I love you with all my heart, but you deserve a guy better than me. I enclose this Kicker's jersey for hope that you will forgive me for my huge mistake and perhaps be with me again. If you really do forgive me with all your heart, please meet me at the Summer Café near your old high school at lunch tomorrow wearing this jersey. If you don't forgive me, I don't blame you. Just don't show up but keep this in your mind: Half of my heart will always belong to you._

_Love always, Eric_

**

* * *

**


	11. Before a Wedding

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Eleven: Before A Wedding**

* * *

Bridget dropped the letter Eric had written for her. Her heart sped up to a million beats a minute. Bridget was torn apart. Half of her was telling her to go back to Eric. The other half of her was telling her that Eric would probably end ruining her life again…for the third time. Bridget put the letter carefully put the letter on her bedside and the folded Kickers jersey on the floor. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. Frustration hit her. Everything would be back to normal if Eric didn't have to send that stupid letter. Bridget let herself drift into a sleep. 

Half and hour later, Bridget woke up. She looked around and remembered Eric's letter. She took her pillow and kicked it as hard as she could toward the wall. Bridget looked around. Anger built up inside of her. She took her phone and dialed Lena's number.

"Hello?" Lena answered

"Hi Lena, it's me, Bee" Bridget sighed.

"Hi Bee. What's up?"

Taking a deep breath, Bridget told Lena everything. Lena gasped and said "Bee, Eric's terrible. I think you should just leave him out of your life forever"

Bridget sighed and said, "I don't know Lena. I think I love Eric"

"Come on Bee. Be reasonable. Follow what Eric said. He doesn't deserve you"

Bridget looked at the letter again. "Lena, you're right. I'm just going to go and live my life without Eric. He can wait at the café alone"

"That's the spirit!"

"But… I think I really do love Eric"

"You love him enough to give him a third chance?"

"Yes"

"Then what are we talking about? You love Eric, go back to him tomorrow and see him at the café"

"But I'm not sure if I really love him. Would I be better off without him?"

"Bee, you just said to me 30 seconds ago that you loved him."

"I know, but the feeling in my gut says I'll be better off without him"

"Then follow your gut"

"But my heart says to go back together with Eric."

"Bee, then go back to Eric. Follow your heart"

"Yes, I think I should follow my heart but my gut feeling is stronger"

"Then follow your gut" Lena said, smiling at her repitition of words.

"Then again, the last time I followed my heart in the first summer, it left me as a disaster"

"Follow your gut then"

"I'm confused now. I love Eric, yes I'm sure about that, but there's this annoying feeling inside of me saying that Eric and I were never meant to be"

"Okay Bee, think about it. You love Eric right?"

"Yes"

"You sure? Positive?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm definitely positive"

"Will you be happier with Eric in your life?"

"Umm, yes"

"Then go meet him in the cafe then."

"Yes, you're probably right. I think I'll go meet Eric at the cafe tomorrow. But first, I'm going to talk to Tibby and Carmen"

"Sure thing"

"Now what?"

"Now, we do something exciting! Today, we're going shopping for Carmen's wedding dress remember? Her wedding's tomorrow!"

For some strange and odd reason, Bridget wasn't very excited about Carmen's wedding. Sighing she asked, "When are we leaving?"

Lena answered "Right now. I'm getting my car keys. I'll drive you to the shop and we'll meet with Carmen and Tibby."

Bridget sighed again and said "I'll be waiting for you" She then hung up. Bridget looked on the floor where Eric's letter and the Kickers jersey were lying. Bridget got off her bed and picked up the jersey. She stared at it. _You. Kickers Jersey. You put so much confusion in my life. I can't wait to wear you tomorrow...I think. _Smliing a little, Bridget carefully folded the jersey and put it on her bed. She bent down, picked up Eric's letter and smelt it. It smelled like Eric's usual cologne. It reminded her of the times when Eric would just hold her at night and let her relax whenever she was stressed. Just then, Bridget knew what she had to do. She would meet Eric at the cafe. She had to do it. He was important in her life.

Just then, Lena rang the doorbell. Bridget hopped down the stairway and greeted Lena. "Come on, let's go" Lena said

Bridget nodded and followed Lena into the car. Tibby and Carmen were already inside of it and waiting for Bridget.

"Hi Bee!" Tibby greeted

"Helloooo Bee!" Carmen sang

Bridget smiled and got into the car. Lena got in the front seat and started driving. Bridget looked over at Carmen's left hand and saw the gorgeous humongous diamond, with a silver band. "Carmen, that engagement ring is beautiful" Bridget gasped, half happy for Carmen and half sad for herself. Bridget felt below the standards of the Sisters. They all had houses, jobs and husbands. She had nothing. Carmen took off her engagement ring and put it in Bridget's hand.

"Read what it says in the ring" Carmen demanded

Bridget looked carefully in the ring and saw that Win had carefully engraved the words: Always and forever, I will love you, Bridget smiled. Carmen was the luckiest woman on the planet. Her husband was handsome, kind, and caring. Lena stopped in front of a wedding dress shop named "Fifi's"

Together, the sisters went inside Fifi's and breathed in the sweet lavender aroma flying around in the room. Wedding dresses in very color and design were displayed and near the back, there were 6 humongous mirrors and change rooms. Carmen sighed and closed her eyes to capture and take in the sight. A woman, looking around her 30's, wearing a long piece of measuring tape around her neck came up to Bridget and asked her, "Are you the lucky girl who's going to be married?"

Bridget shook her head and said "I wish. My best friend, here, is going to be married" Bridget said, pointing at Carmen

This woman looked at Carmen and immediately put one of her long French-manicured fingernail on Carmen's cheek. "What delicate and beautiful skin you have. We will have so much fun picking out your outfit. My name is Fifi. I'm the owner of this store. It's a pleasure to be meeting you all" Fifi stuck out her hand and shook hands with Carmen, Bridget, Tibby and Lena

"Follow me. We have much to accomplish" Fifi said

Together, Bridget, Tibby, Lena and Carmen followed Fifi to the back of wedding shop. Fifi motioned for Carmen to stand on the stool laid out for her. Carmen did what she was told. Fifi took her measuring tape and measured Carmen. Fifi tapped her chin and stared at Carmen's body shape. "I think we have a perfect dress" Fifi disappeared out of sight.

Carmen turned to face her Sisters and squealed excitedly "I can't believe I'm going to get married!"

Lena and Tibby squealed in delight. Bridget smiled merely. Yes, she was happy that Carmen was getting married, but now, she would be the last out of the 4 Sisters to get married. She wasn't even close into getting married.

Fifi soon returned with 2 dresses in her hand. One was a cream color with a frilly bottom and beautiful flower designed embroiders. The other was a white sparkly dress, with long sleeves and a revealing back. Carmen carefully placed her hand and ran it through the material. Gasping, she took the cream colored dress and put it on. It contrasted her skin tone beautifully, but the waist and shoulders were a bit tight. Carmen looked at herself in the mirror.

"Oh, this dress is perfect. If only it fit me" Carmen moaned sadly.

Fifi took a step back and studied Carmen. "Carmen, darling, this dress is beautiful on you. Let Fifi work her magic" Fifi then took out some scissors and a needle and ten minutes after, the dress was fit for Carmen. Carmen twirled around and around until she got dizzy. Lena and Tibby were busy oohing and aahing at Carmen. Bridget simply smiled and nodded in agreement.

Bridget walked along the aisles of the wedding dress shop with Tibby and Lena. Carmen was busy purchasing her dress. They walked out the door and soon, Carmen caught up with them. Bridget, ashamed for acting so selfish at the wedding shop, smiled and asked Tibby, Lena and Carmen if they wanted to go swimming with her. They immediately agreed. They made plans to meet each other at the pool in 10 minutes. Parting, the four sisters went to their houses to grab their swim suits. Bridget ran home and grabbed the first swimsuit she saw. It was her most attractive swimsuit. It was black, with a very revealing top. Bridget took a good look at it. She grabbed another swimsuit. This one was a normal swimsuit. It was white, with a black big diagonal stripe.

Bridget thought hard. _Do I wear an attractive black bikini and try to please other guys or should I wear my white swimsuit and focus on Eric? _Bridget glanced at the clock. She only had 3 minutes left. _Why am I thinking such nonsense??? I'm going back to Eric tomorrow right??? _She grabbed her white swimsuit and went out the door.

Bridget arrived at the pool. She found Tibby, Lena and Carmen and they went to change their swimsuits in the changing room. Once finished, Bridget noticed that Carmen was wearing a dark green bikini, Lena, who's always conservative, wore a blue swimsuit and Tibby wore a black and dark pink bikini.

"Come on guys, let's swim!" Tibby said, dragging Bridget, Lena and Carmen along with her. Together, they jumped in the pool and had fun. Bridget started swimming around just as a warmup. Once finished swimming around the pool, Bridget got out of the pool and went to get her towel. She dried her long, beautiful hair. Suddenly, Bridget felt the urge to look up. She did. She noticed that all the guys in the swimming pool place were staring at her. She looked around at Tibby, Lena and Carmen, who were smirking at her.

Bridget walked up to Lena, Carmen and Tibby and asked "What's so funny?" Lena, Tibby and Carmen looked at each other and they all started laughing.

Tibby soon stopped laughing and said "Bee, we were just saying to each other that you haven't lost your 'hot-guy-magnet'. Did you notice that once you got out of the pool and started drying your hair, all the guys both young and old, were staring at you"

Lena stopped laughing and added "Come on Bee. Have your pick of guys. Maybe they'll help you forget about Eric"

Carmen said "Go Bee. Have some fun"

Bridget looked hesitantly at Carmen, Tibby and Lena. They urged her to go forward. Bridget gave in and started circling the pool. Some how, all the guys that she would have thought attractive before, seemed plain to her. Suddenly, Bridget knew why she couldn't find a reasonable guy. She was simply looking for Eric. Bridget got back to Lena, Tibby and Carmen.

She said "Guys, I decided what I have to do. I'm too in love with Eric to find another guy. Let's just go back to swimming. I've decided that I'll meet Eric at the cafe tomorrow."

Carmen whooped and said "Go Bee!"

A long time later, the four Sisters left the swimming pool happily.

Bridget then felt her stomach lunge forward. She stopped in her tracks and knelt down

Lena then said "Bee! I have and idea! Why don't you go to the café, hide, and see what Eric does. Then, consider your feelings for him. If you say you don't love him anymore, stay hidden, but if you say you love him, go meet with him so you'll know what to do just in case you chicken out at the last minute."

Bridget smiled. That was the perfect plan. She cheered up immediately. Determined, Bridget said goodbye, skipped all the way home and jumped into bed, falling asleep. Little did she know that in the next two days, many, many surprises were in store for her.


	12. Destiny

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter 12: Destiny**

* * *

Bridget woke up feeling a perplexing feeling in her body. She vaguely wondered why. It then hit her. Today was the day she would make her decision about Eric! Bridget jolted out of bed and froze. It was 11:30! She was supposed to be in place and ready at the café in 15 minutes! Bridget ran to her closet, where she carefully had chosen her outfit the night before. It was slim-fitting jeans and a snug white t-shirt. Beside her outfit was the Kickers jersey that Eric had sent her. Bridget grabbed her outfit and went to the bathroom to get changed. She took her comb and brushed her hair until it shined. She applied lip gloss and mascara. Glancing at the clock, she knew that she had only 5 minutes left. 

Bridget walked back into her room. She took her cell phone and stuffed it in the back pocket of her jeans. She put the Kickers jersey in a bag. It was now time to go. Bridget screamed "I'm going to the cafe!" to her dad, but she doubted that he would care. Perry would just be in his room playing on his computer. Bridget grabbed her shoes and put them on. She walked out of her door and began making her way to the café.

While she was walking to the café, Bridget took out her cell phone and started reading her text messages. She had 4 of them. Reading, they said:

**Bee, are you alright? I'll be waiting for you at home. Call if you need anything. From:Lena**

**Bee, I'm so excited! Your big day is here! Do you know what you are going to do yet? Reply ASAP. From:Carmen**

**Bumble Bee, if Eric hurts you, tell me. I'll kill him! Good Luck! From: Tibs**

**Bee? Why does Eric keep on emailing me and asking me about you? Why does he keep asking if you're alright and how you've been acting these days? Is there something happening between you two? From: ****Diana**

Bridget decided not to reply to any of her text messages until she got Eric and her problem over with. Too busy looking at her cell phone, Bridget walked straight into the wall of the café.

"Ow!" Bridget said, rubbing at her forehead. She quickly glanced around her just to see if Eric saw her or if he had arrived yet. She spotted Eric from a faraway distance casually walking to the café with his hands in his pockets, whistling quietly. Bridget did not find this fair. There Eric was, whistling and being so calm while she was hyperventilating. Bridget made a dash for it just in case Eric saw her. She sprinted to the corner of the café, and crouched down behind a tree. This way, no one could see her unless they walk around the café and look down to the bottom of the tree.

Bridget put her bag that was holding the Kickers jersey on her lap and hugged it closely. Her heart was pounding. She peered around the corner. She saw that Eric was leaning on the front wall of the café and was glancing at his watch. He was wearing jeans that were not too snug and not too baggy and a shirt that was green. His hair looked a little ruffled. Bridget suspected that this was because he was running his hand through his hair. She smiled a little because she remembered that that was his habit whenever he was stressed, nervous, or worried. He still looked like his charming self. Bridget hugged her bag even more closely. She was so anxious. A bubbly feeling inside her body that she could not distinguish was making her giddy. What should she do?

Bridget took her cell phone out and looked at the time. It was 12: 15. Any minute now, Eric would be leaving. And as soon as she thought that, Eric looked around one last time, glanced at his watch, and began walking away. He seemed a little sad. His walk was a slower and his posture was a little crouched. Bridget looked at Eric again. He was leaving. She had to act now. Now or never. One mistake or wrong choice could ruin her life again.

Eric was now a short distance away from her. The bubbly feeling inside of her was gone. _Why was that? _Bridget wondered. Suddenly, it hit her. That bubbly feeling was a complete, happy feeling. It was a feeling whenever she experienced love. _No wonder I couldn't distinguish that feeling. I had avoided love for 5 years now. _Bridget panicked, put on her Kicker's jersey and started running after Eric. He was far away from her now. He couldn't hear her screaming his name. She ran even faster. She loved him. They were meant to be. She couldn't lose her chance.

Unfortunately, his bus arrived and he hopped onto it, leaving Bridget running. Bridget stopped running. She looked at the bus, which was driving away. She gave up. They weren't meant to be. It was like there were signs saying that Eric and her shouldn't be together. He was gone.

Bridget started crying. She had her chance, but she lost it. Slowly, Bridget took of her Kickers jersey and walked towards Greenrun Park. Greenrun Park was her favorite park. A place that was private, comforting, and quiet. It was filled with trees and grass. It was twice the size of her back yard. She had found it 4 months ago in the middle of the forest that lurked behind Greenrun Park. It was deserted.

Once Bridget arrived at the park, she started to run. Past the joggers, the elderly people strolling, the families and their picnics, and the kissing couples. She ran and ran until she arrived at her small park. It was her place. A place that always comforted her. She was glad that no one had run far and deep into the forest and discovered the lake yet. She made her way near the lake and sat down underneath a big tree. She pulled her shoes off and ignored her cell phone that had been ringing for the past 10 minutes. Annoyed with the ringing, Bridget took of her socks and stuffed her cell phone into them, then stuffed the socks into her shoes, which muffled the sound of ringing.

Silence was all that could be heard. Only her, the sky, the trees, the beautiful lake, the wildlife and the grass were on the planet right now. Bridget glanced down at her Kickers jersey, ran her hand through the fabric, and once again, she started crying. Once or twice she heard a ruffle behind her. _Probably the birds. Or some annoying kid who's seeing me bawl my eyes out. _By now, it's been 1 hour after Eric hopped onto the bus. She cried and cried until she couldn't stand looking at the Kickers jersey anymore. She grabbed the jersey, ran towards the lake and threw the jersey into the lake as far as she could. She heard a satisfying plunk and stared at it. Minutes later, she knelt down and continued crying.

Suddenly, Bridget felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her in close. Then a deep masculine voice whispered comforting words in her ear, sending tingles and chills all through her body.

Bridget instantly stopped crying. In fact, she stiffened up and froze. She stopped breathing. She slowly turned her head and whispered "Eric?"

Eric chuckled quietly. He let go of Bridget's waist and turned her around. Bridget looked up at him. He bent down and gave her a deep, warm, loving kiss then said "Yeah Bee. It's me."

Bridget, who was still in shock recovered quickly. She questioned suspiciously. "How did you get here? I thought you were on that bus going off to some place!"

Eric grinned. He put his arms around her waist again and pulled her in close. "Well, after you didn't show up at the café, I decided to go to your house just to see you. I hopped onto that bus and was on my way to your house.'

"And then?" Bridget urged, her voice muffled because her head was on Eric's shoulder.

"And then I arrived at your house. Your dad answered it but he said you were going to the café" Eric replied

"Wow. Dad actually listened to me for once"

"So I was confused. I didn't see you at the café and your dad said you were going to the café. Then it all hit me. When I was in the bus, I thought I saw a glimpse of a very beautiful girl with amazing hair running in the buses direction. For a moment, I thought it was you but then I thought to myself, 'Why would Bee be running towards the bus?' So I decided that I was going crazy. But after your dad told me you were at the café, it all clicked. I knew that that woman I saw running was you"

"Go on"

"So, I went back to the place I saw you running and I walked along the sidewalk asking people if they saw a girl with beautiful hair run by. They all did. And they all pointed toward the direction of Greenrun Park. So I ran to Greenrun Park. I ran the whole route (4 miles) but you weren't there. It was then I heard water. I figured that a lake was near by and once before, you told me that your favorite place was near a lake. So I followed the sound of water. Then right in front of me, you were sitting under that tree crying. I stayed there, frozen, because I wasn't sure if you were crying because I was gone or because of something else. You looked so sad."

"So that was you I heard a few times while I was crying"

"Anyway, then, I saw you throw my Kickers jersey into the lake and that instant, I knew you were crying because of me."

"You saw me throw the jersey?" Bridget asked sheepishly

"Yeah, I did. Shame. It was a good jersey. Are you alright now?" Eric laughed.

"Yup. Would you call this destiny?" Bridget asked, leaned up and kissed Eric lightly on the lips.

He leaned forward and tilted her head with his hand and kissed her back. "No, I'd call it fate"

Bridget stopped the kiss and said "No it should be called destiny. And should we retrieve the jersey?"

"Nah let the fishes have it. I have tons more. And let's call this Destiny and Fate." Eric replied and once again, he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in close and kissed her. Together they kissed for a very long time and neither of them knew that Bridget's cell phone had been ringing for the past 40 minutes and that the days ahead of them were going to be very surprising. Both bad and good surprises.

**

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**


	13. Bliss

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter 13: Bliss**

AN- First, I would like to thank: xXx dark shadow xXx, PriscillaN, alwayswaiting356, xoxsummerbabyxox, Anonymous, x0sport4lyfe0x, 2col4skool2, Tamora Pierce Luva, some one, Leigh, Zinf, PotterChick958, Insane and Logical, smartywithch and daniwani2369 for reviewing my story. It is very much appreciated.

Secondly, this is just a personal note for smartywithch: I hope that this chapter has greatly improved from the last chapter!

Thirdly, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Bridget snuggled on the couch very comfortably with Eric at her side. Eric's arm was wrapped contentedly around Bridget's waist and her head was rested on his shoulder. The two were at Bridget's house knowing that Perry and Bridget's father were in their rooms doing their own thing. Bridget and Eric had just got back from shopping, or more like window shopping, in Bridget's case. It had been exactly one day ever since that fateful day that Bridget and Eric met at the lake in Greenrun Park. They had walked to Bridget's house happy and contented knowing that from that day on, things between the two would run much smoother. 

Bridget looked up and gazed up at Eric's face. She became fully aware that he had fallen asleep looking very peaceful, calm and happy. Bridget rested her head once again on Eric's shoulder and replayed the day at Greenrun Park over again in her head. It was then she abruptly realized that she had forgotten her cell phone at the lake. Bridget carefully untangled herself from Eric's arms and stood up from the white couch. She grabbed Eric's beige jacket, which was lying on the table and put it on. It smelled like Eric's usual cologne and it made her feel that he was with her. Eric's jacket was a little big on her, his sleeves were too long for her arms and the bottom of the jacket skimmed past her hips. Even though Bridget knew that she probably would look quite ridiculous with Eric's jacket on, she wanted to bring something that resembled him along with her. Cautiously, Bridget made her way to the front door, put her sneakers on and left the house quietly.

Once outside, Bridget looked at her watch. It was mid afternoon, around 4PM. Bridget started running to Greenrun Park, hoping that no one had found her cell, which was still stuffed in her socks. When Bridget and Eric had decided to leave Greenrun Park after a lot of kissing, Bridget had been too blissful on that day so she hadn't remembered that her cell phone was still in her socks. She just pulled out her socks and put her sneakers on, but she had forgotten to bring along her socks.

As Bridget arrived at the lake that laid inside Greenrun Park and she looked around for her socks. She spotted them underneath the very tree she had left them. Bridget hugged Eric's jacket very closely as she walked around the place where Eric had embraced her. She grabbed her socks and walked back to her house.

While walking back, Bridget stuffed her socks into the pocket of Eric's jacket and pulled out her cell phone. She opened her cell phone and checked to see who called her. Unexpectedly, Bridget noted that she had 33 missed phone calls and 10 messages. Bridget frowned. _Who could have called me 33 times? _Bridget skimmed through her call list. Lena, Carmen and Tibby all called together 33 times and Diana had messaged her 10 times.

Bridget laughed silently to herself. She had forgotten that her friends were left clueless after yesterday and she hadn't updated to them about what happened yet. Bridget decided not to phone any of her friends until she got things about Eric straight. She knew that they both wanted to be together, but Eric hadn't confirmed that they were an official couple yet. Walking even faster, Bridget stuffed her cell phone on the back pocket of her jeans and made her way towards her house. _I wonder if Eric had woken up yet and noticed that I was gone. _Bridget smiled amusedly pondering the thought of Eric looking for her all over the house. _I wonder if Eric noticed that his jacket went missing. _Bridget grinned and hugged Eric's jacket close to her body, embracing the thought that Eric was all hers now.

Finally, Bridget arrived at her house. She slowly and very cautiously walked to the front door and opened the door only a few inches wide. She stuck her head inside and scanned the living room for Eric. To her astonishment, Eric was gone! Bridget frowned and struggled to think where possibly Eric would have gotten to. She scanned the room again. He was definitely gone and his shoes had disappeared as well.

All of a sudden, someone pushed her right through the doorway making her lose her balance and fall face forward onto the green carpet. Bridget yelped and pushed her body up from lying in the carpet. After that she became fully aware that someone was laughing hysterically behind her. It was a man's laughter. And the only man Bridget had ever known that had the guts to do this to her was the one and only Eric Richman.

Bridget hoisted herself of the ground, crossed her arms and glowered at Eric playfully. Eric was beyond laughter right now. He practically had tears in his eyes from all the laughter and his arms were on his stomach. After some time, Eric finally calmed down and walked up to Bridget, offering her his hand. Eric was still grinning, like a mad maniac. Bridget took Eric's hand and pulled herself up. She glared at Eric but said nothing.

Eric smirked and teased "now, now Bee. Are you mad at me?" Bridget couldn't hold her laughter any longer. She burst out laughing and pushed Eric lightheartedly into the wall. Eric lost his balance and had to hold onto the wall for support.

Eric said "Aha! I knew you had my jacket Vreeland!" Bridget glanced down at Eric's jacket. She had forgotten that she was still wearing it.

Eric continued "I woke up on your couch and felt something was missing. So I noticed you were gone. I searched everywhere in you house until I noticed your shoes were gone. I thought you might be at Lena, Tibby or Carmen's house so I walked back to my flat and got my car keys. I drove to Tibby and Carmen's house first, but their moms said they weren't there. So I drove to Lena's house. Tibby, Carmen, and Lena were all there and when they saw me at the doorway, they took a quick glance at me, then jumped out of their seats and tackled me to the ground."

Bridget burst out laughing. "Lena, Tibby and Carmen did that?"

Eric pouted jokingly and said "Yeah. Can you believe their nerve? Anyway, once they tackled me to the ground the sat on me and demanded to know what happened." Bridget continued laughing at the thought of Tibby, Lena and Carmen all sitting on Eric.

Bridget said in a mocking tone "oh poor baby. Did they hurt you sweetie?"

Eric very lightly hit Bridget on the arm and went on with his story "so I told them the whole story then my body started to ache, under all the weight I've been under. I pushed them off, and then told them I had to be going."

Bridget glared at Eric suspiciously. "Did you tell the truth or did you say that you made a heroic entrance and flew in with a cape and rescued a damsel in distress that was almost going to be fed to the crocodiles???"

Eric laughed "no. I told them the truth. Back to my story. I drove back to your house and saw you with your body on the outside and your head in the inside of the house. By the way, you really did look uproarious. Then I had the urge to push you, so I sneaked up behind you and pushed you. It was by far, the most amusing thing I ever seen."

Bridget grimaced about the thought of how ridiculous she must have looked with her head inside and her body outside. "Are you done yet, or is that all?" Bridget asked

Eric nodded; signifying that he was done then said "I still want my jacket back by the way"

Bridget looked down at Eric's jacket and how comfy she was in it. Bridget wasn't quite ready to take it off yet. She laughed, hugged Eric's jacket to her then said "never! As punishment for pushing a lady, you're going to have to pay! This jacket will be a good price to pay for your terrible ungentle-manliness!"

Eric tackled her to the ground and rolled on top of her, supporting most of his weight under his two arms. Bridget gave a scream in surprise. Eric said "Give it back Vreeland!"

"No Richman!" Bridget shouted and rolled out of Eric's reach.

"Not so fast Bee!" Eric mumbled and grabbed Bridget's ankle. He pulled her back and locked her firmly but gently to the ground. Bridget squirmed and tried to wiggle out or Eric's grasp but Eric had a much stronger grip on her. "Give up?" Eric said amusedly.

Bridget stopped squirming and looked up at Eric's handsome face, which was only a few centimeters away from her. She gazed at his eyes, which were full of life and his grin, which was charming. Bridget leaned up, kissed Eric softly on the lips and whispered "I love you"

Eric was caught off guard. He wasn't expecting this. His grip loosened on Bridget's arms and pulled himself together fast enough to whisper back "I love you too Bee". He leant down and caught Bridget's lips with his.

A familiar voice came upon Bridget and Eric. "Are you done yet lovebirds?" Bridget broke away from Eric's kiss and saw that Lena, Tibby and Carmen were at the front door with knowing smirks on their faces. Eric stood up and helped Bridget up too. Lena, Tibby and Carmen all shot secret glances at each other until Tibby nodded and the three lunged at Bridget. Carmen and Lena had a tight hold on Bridget's arms and Tibby was behind Bridget. Bridget staggered with surprise and confusion. The three marched Bridget out of the house and into the car.

Tibby, who was behind Bridget called up to Eric, who was leaning at the front door "We're very sorry Eric, but we need to clear things up with your girlfriend. I'm sure she'll be back with you unharmed in an hour or two."

Bridget glanced at Eric apologetically and climbed into the car with Lena and Carmen at her side. Tibby climbed into the driver's seat and started driving away. Eric took one long glance at the car, which was very far away now and mumbled "life is never going to be the same with Bee in my life. And she still has my jacket." Eric walked into Bridget's house shaking his head and sat on the couch waiting for Bridget's return.


	14. A Few Glitches

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter 14: A Few Glitches**

**AN- Thank you to: PriscillaN, AllAmericanPirate, FlipChick1432, Mrs. Bridget Vreeland Richman, smartywithch, Insane and Logical, Jenny Mae, daniwani2369 and spectacularspectacular for reviewing Chapter 13.**

**I would also like to thank: None, Nicole, Morgan, Sarah and Jelly Fish for all the anonymous reviews.**

**I really love you guys! It means so much to me! Read, and enjoy!**

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"So Bee, we heard what had happened in Eric's point of view, and now we want yours. Talk, speak slowly." Tibby started off. Bridget was interrogated by a pacing Tibby from her comfortable spot on the bed. Lena and Carmen, whose attitudes were far more relaxed, opted to situate them selves on the blue-green polka dotted chair and purple shag carpet, respectively. The four had just got back from dragging Bridget out of her house and away from Eric, who was still left behind in Bridget's house. 

Bridget nibbled on a gummy worm lost in thought when Lena interrupted her thoughts. "Bee, are you still with us?"

Bridget nodded then said sarcastically "First of all, I would like to thank all of you for ruining my romantic moment with Eric. Secondly, what do you guys want to know?"

"Everything that had happened to you ever since you went to the cafe. We haven't heard from you ever since the day before yesterday. We even had to tackle Eric down to the ground to get him to tell the story to us. You left us all hanging Bee" said Carmen accusingly.

"Yeah" Lena piped in, agreeing with Carmen.

Bridget replied "Oh. I didn't know you guys were that worried about me. Let's see, I did what we all planned. I hid and waited for Eric. He came, I stayed where I was. Eric left, then my senses kicked in and I ran after him. He hopped on the bus while I was still running so he didn't see me. I felt like I lost something in me. I went and –"

Tibby interrupted "Oh please Bee. Don't tell me you cried"

"Tibby! Don't be so mean!" Lena scolded.

Bridget stuck her tongue out at Tibby teasingly and continued "Anyway, to be honest, yes I did cry. I kind of stuck my cell phone in my socks because I didn't feel like answering any of your calls."

"Bee, you should have at least told us something. Lena, Tibby and I were worried to death. We thought that either you were having a good time with Eric and forgot about us or something terrible happened." Carmen said

"Hey guys, I'm sorry. I was a bit preoccupied" Bridget said

Tibby snorted. "Preoccupied on what? Obsessing over Eric leaving or being too busy bawling your eyes out?"

Bridget clutched her heart teasingly and said "I'm so hurt"

Tibby laughed and came over to Bridget hugging her and saying "You know I was kidding Bee. You know I love you"

Bridget laughed and continued her story "afterward, when I was crying, Eric came up to me, surprised me and everything fell into place"

Carmen sighed and fell back to the floor. "That's a really romantic story. Your life should be published into a book Bee."

Lena laughed and said "speaking of romance, your big day is today Carmen!"

Bridget squealed and hopped off the bed, joining Carmen on the floor. "I'm so sorry Carmen. I was busy with everything and I totally forgot about your wedding. But now I don't and I'm so happy for you!"

Tibby laid down next to Bridget and Carmen on the floor and said "speaking of weddings, don't you think you should get ready now? After all, the wedding is in-" Tibby checked her watch. "5 hours!"

Carmen leapt off the floor exclaiming "Oh no! I forgot that Win and I still have to discuss with the wedding flower girl that Win is allergic to daisies! She keeps insisting to wear a circle of yellow daisies around her head! I'm sorry guys, but I have to run!" Carmen rushed out the door.

Two minutes later, Carmen walked back into Tibby's room sheepishly and said "Oops. I forgot to remind you guys something. Lena, please remember that you have to help me with the wedding dress. Tibby, remember to bring the little statue to put on the cake and Bee, can you arrive a little early too? I need help with the setting up the guests' wedding favors."

Tibby and Lena nodded but Bridget stayed quiet looking very troubled. "Carmen, I was just wondering if you invited Eric."

Carmen replied "No, but of course he can come." Carmen then rushed out of the room once again.

Tibby shook her head and looked at Lena. "Last-minute-wedding-rush-symptom, sound familiar Lena?"

Lena laughed and said to Bridget, who looked confused "when Tibby and I had our weddings, we were as panicky and rushed as Carmen right before our wedding. I'm sure you remember Bee. Someday, you'll have that symptom too."

Bridget laughed, but deep inside of her, she felt a gnawing envy that all her friends were happily married but she wasn't. _Snap out of it Bee! Be happy for your friends! You've got Eric now, haven't you? _Bridget scolded herself silently. "Well guys, I'm sure we're all busy with Carmen's wedding, so I'm going to have to run."

Lena and Tibby both nodded and said "See you later Bee"

After rising from the bed, Bridget hailed a cab, recalling the memory of being driven by Carmen to Tibby's house.

As Bridget was riding the taxi back to her house, she was thinking _will Eric ever ask me to marry him? I don't think so. After all, we've had so many ups and downs that our relationship now would probably never last. In the future I wonder if I will be a happily married wife or will I be a single woman with no husband for the rest of my life. _

Bridget was interrupted from her thoughts when the cab stopped in front of her house. Her living room light was on. _How strange. Dad and Perry never leave the light on like that. _It was all of a sudden that Bridget remembered that Eric was probably waiting for her return. All thoughts eluded her when she saw the familiar sandy hair on the couch. Bridget walked into the front door and peeked inside the living room. The television was on but Eric was sleeping on her couch.

Bridget smiled and thought _this is the second time Eric has fallen asleep today. Boy, he must be sleepy. _Bridget was about to wake him up when she remembered that Eric had scared her really badly when he pushed her through the front door. _Now's a time to get him back for that evil joke he did to me earlier. _Bridget smirked mischievously.

Bridget carefully considered her options until she decided that jumping on Eric would get her the best result… _but pouring water all over him would get even a better result_. _Nah, I would probably have to clean up the mess afterwards. I might as well jump on top of him. I hope I don't kill him or anything… _

Carefully and quietly, Bridget furtively walked towards the couch, bent her knees for the jump and landed right on top of Eric. Eric eyes shot open, and he groggily fell off the couch in surprise. Bridget screamed with laughter as Eric recovered from his sleep. He looked a bit disoriented.

A few hilarious moments afterward Eric recovered and he went to join Bridget on the couch. "What a great way to wake me up Bee" he said mockingly.

Bridget just laughed some more. "We got each other fair and square. You want a truce? Call it even?" Bridget extended her hand.

Eric seemed to dwell on this for a moment until he took Bridget's hand and shook it, replying "truce."

Bridget's hand seemed to linger on his for a long time until she shook herself out of her reverie and said "Eric, we're going to Carmen's wedding tonight."

"Are you sure I'm allowed to go? But I wasn't invited! I got no invitation!" Eric replied

Bridget laughed. "You weren't invited Eric, because we weren't together. But now we are so you are invited!"

"Did Carmen say so?"

"Yes she did"

"What if I told you I don't want to go because it would be awkward?"

"It wouldn't matter because I will still make you go. Why would it be awkward?"

"It'll be awkward because I don't know anyone. But just for you, I'll go, but only to the wedding party. I'm not going to the actual wedding"

"You know lots of people! You know me, Carmen, Tibby, Greta, Perry, Dad and Lena. And why don't you want to go to the actual wedding? Don't you want to see Carmen walk up the aisle, exchange vows and all that stuff?"

Eric coughed mysteriously. "Ah not really. I have some… uh… important… yes important issues to deal with. I'll be at the wedding party though."

Bridget looked at Eric suspiciously. "What important issues?"

Eric broke away from Bridget's gaze and replied "you know…stuff… job… soccer… life…"

Bridget looked at Eric. She clearly knew that Eric was lying but she didn't push it. "So you'll be at the party though?"

"Yes. I'll be there"

Bridget sighed and said "Okay. I guess you have to go and attend your important issues." Bridget pondered on this sentence for a little while. "Hmm, I don't want to be all alone at the wedding. Do you mind if I just go with you to the important issue that you have and arrive with you at Carmen's wedding party?"

Bridget thought she saw a panicked glance flash across Eric's face when he replied "No! I mean… I don't think you should come with me to this important issue. Yes, it'll be better without you coming with me. You should go to Carmen's wedding though. She'll be really disappointed if you don't go."

Bridget nodded, agreeing with Eric. Eric gazed at the clock, stood up from the couch and said "look, we've only got 4 hours left until Carmen's wedding. I've got to go okay? I'll see you at Carmen and Win's wedding party later on."

Bridget looked up at Eric and said "Okay. See you later then."

Eric smiled, bent down, and gave Bridget a kiss on the lips and told her with fervor "I love you"

Bridget smiled, her body lit up with warmth and said "I love you too" and giving Eric another smile and a kiss.

Eric left Bridget's house afterwards. Bridget remained on the couch for a few minutes after Eric left when Eric came back in, shivering and saying "Bee, you have my jacket. It's so cold outside. Can I have it back please?"

Bridget looked down at the jacket she was wearing. She just remembered that she was still wearing it. Bridget laughed sheepishly before removing Eric's jacket and returning it to its rightful owner. Eric smiled gratefully, gave Bridget another kiss before heading out once again towards the door.

Bridget headed up stairs into her room to get changed for Carmen's wedding. She decided on a light blue strapless dress that skimmed all the way down to the ground, white flats with a pretty bow on each flat (she considered that if she wore her white 3-inch heels, she'd be taller than Eric), a sterling silver heart shaped necklace, and a thin silver bangle on her left wrist. She wore mascara, lip gloss and a hint of eye shadow.

Bridget stepped up to the full length big mirror and checked to see how she looked. Her beautiful hair brushed her finely tanned shoulders, all the way down her back finally resting on her lower back, her slim wrists showed the pretty slim silver bangle strikingly and her light blue dress seemed to reflect the light with all its sparkles.

Satisfied with how she looked, Bridget carefully sat down on her bed to check the time. She had approximately 2 hours left until Carmen's wedding. She heard a bold knock on the door. Bridget rose from her bed and opened it. In front of her was Greta all ready to go to Carmen's wedding. Greta looked beautiful with her black dress.

Bridget gasped and hugged Greta. "Grandma! I didn't know you would be stopping here before Carmen's wedding!"

Greta smiled saying "Honey, I would never miss a chance to see you, your father and Perry! You look beautiful by the way."

Bridget stiffened up a little bit. "Thanks. Oh Grandma, I forgot that you haven't seen Perry and Dad for a long time. Did Dad be mean to you?"

"No Honey, your Dad was quite ecstatic and Perry was just his usual sweet quiet self."

"That's good! Are you coming to the wedding with Dad and Perry or with me?"

"Well, I thought I would go with your Dad and Perry. I think we need to talk and get reacquainted."

"Okay"

"I'm going to go downstairs to talk to your Dad okay? You go on and do whatever you were doing before I interrupted you."

"That's right! I have to go and help Carmen with her guests' wedding favors! I almost forgot! I got to run now!"

Greta went back downstairs while Bridget went back into her room to grab her jacket and car keys.

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Bridget stood up from her seat in between Lena and Greta and headed to the big ballroom that Carmen and Win had booked to celebrate their wedding. Carmen looked gorgeous in her pearly white gown and Win looked handsome with his black tuxedo. Carmen and Win were very sweet towards each other, writing their own wedding speeches and getting teary eyed near the vow exchanging. Now that they were happily married, Bridget felt even more left out. Lena was married happily to Paul, Tibby to Brian and now Carmen to Win. _I'm not even engaged yet! I'm so far away from being married that I don't even have a very serious relationship!_

"Earth to Bee! Where are you?" Tibby joked as she waved her hands wildly in from of the dazed Bridget. Bridget shook her head slightly to wake herself up from her daze. She smiled at Tibby before assuring Tibby she was alright.

"Come on Bee. Do you want me to go to the party with you?" Tibby asked

Bridget replied "Sure. But let's make a pit stop at the ladies washroom first okay?"

"Sure. Let's go!"

"Where's Lena and Brian?"

"Oh, Lena's with Paul and Brian had to run home and get our gift to Carmen and Win. We forgot it."

Bridget laughed while they made their way to the ladies washroom. Bridget checked her makeup and reapplied her lip gloss while Tibby adjusted her one shoulder black dress. Tibby looked stunning with her dress, high heels, and her hair clipped back in a dazzling black barrette.

"Tibby, I'll be in the ballroom if you're looking for me okay?" Bridget asked Tibby

"Sure. Go on ahead. I think I'll stay behind to fix my hair. It's so messy today." Tibby replied.

Bridget left the ladies washroom and started down the hallway. Suddenly she bumped into a man who looked like he haven't shaved in 3 months and smelled like alcohol and tobacco. Bridget looked up ready to apologize when she realized who the man was. This man, who was grinning like a maniac was Jack Gooney.

Jack Gooney, who was still grinning madly, advanced towards Bridget and started hugging Bridget. His right hand was far below her waist and the other one was on her upper back.

Jack said suggestively "Hi Babe! So long no see! How about we leave this party and create another party of our own?"

"Ugh Jack! Stay away! I never ever will be with you and I certainly will never even lay a finger on you!" Bridget said fiercely as she pushed away from Jack, an old high school annoyance who always had a crush on her. Jack was always suggesting that they get together. In high school, Jack would always tell anyone who would bother to listen that Bridget was his serious girlfriend.

Jack scornfully sulked. "Why don't you want to go create a little party of our own babe? It would be loads of fun. You and I were meant to be"

"Shut up and leave me alone. I have a boyfriend and he could probably beat you up in a 2 seconds."

"Oh but baby, you'd never let that happen to me right?" Jack leaned closer into Bridget.

"Jack! Seriously, stop it!" Bridget was getting very aggravated with Jack now.

"Come on. You know you want to" Jack wiggled his thick furry eyebrows.

"NO!" Bridget stomped onto Jack's foot while pushing him as hard as she could towards the wall. Jack stumbled towards the wall and crashed down onto a frame.

This time, Jack remained against the wall. His maniac smile disappeared and was replaced by a very angry frown. He said angrily "Okay. I had enough. You're going to pay for that. No one messes with Jack Gooney" Jack then stomped back into the party room.

Bridget stood there confused and thought _what was a loser like Jack doing at Carmen and Win's party? Eric's going to get so mad at Jack once I tell him what had happened. Anyway I should be getting back to the party. Eric should be at the party by now._

"Bee, wait up!" Tibby said, rushing towards Bridget, who was making her way to the wedding party. Bridget halted and waited for Tibby to catch up.

"Is something wrong?" Tibby asked, worried about her friend's unsmiling face.

Bridget shook her head and mumbled "Nothing's wrong."

Tibby, still uncertain said "Okay. Let's go back to the party now!"

Bridget stood on the tip of her toes as she glanced around the room for Eric. It's been an hour since the party started and Eric had not arrived yet. The guests were polishing off their dinner and some have already made it to the dance floor. Bridget had gotten over her encounter with Jack and had decided it was best to ignore what had just happened.

Carmen and Win did a fabulous job with the decorations. Pretty white bows and streamers were strung onto the walls and ceiling, white and red roses were neatly cut, put into vases and were on the tables, the lights were dim near the dance floor and bright near the eating tables. The floor was polished and the refreshment table looked very mouth-watering. Guests were strewn all over the room; some were dancing, some were eating, many were socializing, and a few others were admiring the decorations.

Lena, who had her hair carefully straightened and curled at the ends looking very appealing in her gold, shimmering dress was eating with Paul in the far table corner. Carmen and Win were walking back and forth greeting guests, thanking guests and having a great time. Tibby and Brian were on the dance floor attempting to dance along one of the jazz songs. Only Bridget had no companion to enjoy the party with so far. Bridget walked to the refreshment table and grabbed herself a cup of champagne. Drinking it slowly, Bridget, for the umpteenth time, scanned the room for Eric. He was no where to be seen though. Bridget, fed up with Eric's tardiness put down her glass of champagne and walked to the side of the dance floor, where she stood and watched couples danced.

Unexpectedly, someone softly tapped her on the shoulder, indicating her to turn around. _Finally Eric's here. It took him long enough. It's been what? 2 hours? If he came any later, the party will probably be in full swing and the wedding cake would probably be cut. _Bridget spun around, thinking it was Eric, but was even more surprised when she saw it was James. James looked even better-looking in a black tuxedo then in a soccer uniform. Bridget squealed and jumped into James arms. It had been a few weeks ever since James had left the camp. Bridget held onto James for a long time, for good time's sake.

"James! How'd you get invited? Carmen and Win don't even know you!" Bridget gasped, happy to see a familiar face that she hadn't seen for a long time.

James laughed, his laugh sounding rich like a deep baritone "Oh Bee. We're not the only people who know each other in the world. Win's cousin's friend's sister is my stepsister. Win invited Daisy, who refused to come without me so Win invited me too."

Bridget nodded symbolizing that she agreed. James glanced around the room and said "Hmm. There's a lot of familiar faces don't you think?"

"Yes. To me there is. But you, how do you know the people here?" Bridget asked

James scanned the room. "I know Daisy, over near the refreshment table, I know Win, of course, and I see Carmen. Oh look! There's Billy!"

Bridget did a double take at James. "Who?" Bridget whispered her stomach seemed to plummet down to her feet.

James looked at Bridget funnily. "You heard me. I said Billy."

Bridget choked on nothing in particular and said "where?" Her lungs seemed to have no air left in them.

James pointed to the direction of the exit of the men's washroom. Bridget looked and there, true to her eyes, was Billy. _Boy. This sure is a small world. First Jack, then James and now Billy. _Bridget thought. _Ah well, at least Eric's here. Oh wait. Eric hasn't arrived yet…damn. _By the time Bridget looked up at James, she saw that he was waving Billy over.

Bridget panicked. She didn't want to see Billy again, really. Sure they weren't mad at each other but it would help so much if she didn't talk to Billy unless Eric was with her. _I got to find Eric. If he's not here by now, he's so dead._

"Look James, you stay here, talk to Billy. I'm going to find Eric." Bridget said. She left a confused looking James near the dance floor as she made her way to the exit. Instead, she bumped into Carmen.

"Carmen! Hi! Umm, can you please explain to me why Billy is here?" Bridget asked

Carmen gasped then said "Oh yeah. Oops. When Win and I were writing the invitations to the guests, you were still with Billy, so we automatically assumed that you would want Billy here. But since you broke up with Billy, we couldn't really take the invitation back. And besides, I really didn't think Billy would show up."

"Carmen!"

"Hey! I'm sorry!"

"It's all right. I just really need to find Eric!"

Carmen didn't reply to Bridget's comment but instead, was looking at the person behind Bridget. Bridget looked at Carmen strangely and said "Carmen? Are you okay?"

Carmen shook herself out of her reverie and said teasingly "Oh. Sorry about that. It's just there's a man near the entrance. He looks really eye-catching and drop dead gorgeous with his tie and suit. All the single ladies are eyeing him. Oh wait, I think his name's Eric. Maybe you should go to him?"

Bridget spun around and saw Eric in his suit. His tie was loosened up, his collar messed up, his hair was untidy and he was holding his suit jacket in his hand. He seemed to be looking for her. Bridget smiled and every troubled thing happening her that evening was forgotten. She headed towards Eric. Eric's eyes lit up as he saw her approaching. All the young ladies who were eyeing him gave Bridget the evil eye as she wrapped her arms around him in greeting.

Bridget gave Eric a kiss on the lips before teasingly scolding him for being late. Eric dropped his suit jacket to the floor and wrapped his arms around Bridget back. Eric laughed, apologized and explained that he had to run back and get his wallet, after that he got lost on the way to the party, and then he had trouble finding a parking spot. Bridget kissed him again, then whispering in his ear that he was forgiven.

Eric embraced Bridget for a little longer whispering "by the way Bee, you look absolutely gorgeous."

Bridget beamed and said "Come on. You must be hungry. Let's find a table." Eric picked up his suit jacket and nodded. Bridget led Eric through the tables until she found a table far away from the crowd of guests. Eric pulled out a seat for her before sitting down in his own seat. Bridget sat down in her seat before standing up and announcing "I'll go get some drinks. I'll be right back."

Bridget headed towards the drink table, got Eric some champagne (she didn't want to get herself another cup so she decided she would share the champagne cup with Eric). Making her way back, Bridget's happy mood dropped exceedingly fast as she spotted the scene before her.

Eric was sitting down on the table but right across from him was Jack, who seemed to be thoroughly explaining something. Jack was grinning mischievously while Eric had a slight frown on his face. Turning to her right, Bridget saw James and Billy approaching her.

Bridget put down the glass of champagne on the nearest table, studied the scene before her, and took a deep breath before muttering to herself "Damn."


	15. Love

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter 15: Love**

**AN- Thank you to: Ericluver, amantedellibro209, AllAmericanPirate, smartywithch, Insane and Logical, 2col4skool2, daniwani2369 for reviewing. **

**I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I took a long time writing it.**

* * *

For most people, bad things happen in threes. For Bridget, bad things just start to bundle up continuously. But unlike most people, Bridget can handle a lot of things without breaking down. Like right now, for instance. Eric and Jack are talking and James and Billy were approaching her. Nothing bad about that situation right? Right. This situation isn't bad. It's just time consuming and meaningless. Right now, Bridget's life is going to be changed. (for the good or the bad? You'll see) 

Bridget glanced from the two men talking on the table and the other two men approaching her. Taking a deep breath and doing a silent prayer of patience in her head, Bridget was ready to confront her situation. _This situation isn't so bad. It's just so annoying and it's going to make me explain a lot of pointless things. But then why do I have a feeling that things won't turn out all right? _She grabbed her glass of champagne from the table and headed towards Eric and Billy.

Bridget walked up to Eric as calmly as she could, put the glass of champagne in front of Eric, pretended that she didn't know a thing about what was going on and pulled herself a chair right beside Eric and across the table from Jack. Both men stopped talking and watched Bridget sit down while maintaining the patience to not burst out with frustration at Jack.

Putting on her best fake smile, Bridget said as calmly as she could "So what's up guys?"

Eric took a quick glance at Jack before saying accusingly "Bee, Jack here was telling me the story of how you hooked up with him behind my back". At this point, Eric could not look at Bridget directly in the eyes for the fear of the truth. Eric was fiddling with his watch on his wrist.

Jack coughed mischievously before adding on "Babe, the truth is out. Your boyfriend here knows the truth and I'm sorry to say that your two timing career is coming to an end. Tell your EX-boyfriend the truth that you don't like him anymore and let's go create a party of our own, like YOU suggested a few hours before." To add on to Jack's iniquity scheme, Jack leaned over and tapped Bridget on the chin suggestively. Bridget's body and brain froze all over with anxiety on how Eric would act. The only thing in her body that could function properly right now was her ears and her eyes.

Eric, who was in the middle of drinking the champagne choked over his champagne and started to cough. Bridget made an effort to move and help Eric but she was still frozen solid. A pretty brunette wearing an extremely tight red dress, who seemed to be passing by the table, bent down and started rubbing Eric on the back like she had known him for years. Whispering comforting stuff in his ear, the brunette had managed to stop Eric from choking.

"Thank you" Eric said gratefully to the brunette, his voice still raspy from his choking extravaganza.

"Anytime handsome. You can rely on me anytime you need it" the brunette said back before walking away and blowing Eric a kiss and giving him a wink.

Eric glanced at the brunette one more time before turning back toward the table where Bridget and Jack were scrutinizing the scene.

"Sorry about that" Eric apologized politely, being the gentleman he was.

Jack nodded forgivingly while Bridget tried to say something but her whole body seemed to stop functioning properly. It felt like all her blood was draining from her face and flowing towards her heart and trying to repair it. Only her ears and eyes were working properly and even with her ears and eyes, she wished they wouldn't work either. In fact, she wished her body would stop working and let her in a private corner to just stay there and to repair her wounds.

Eric looked at Bridget worryingly but his eyes seemed to reflect brotherly concern instead of the loving concern Bridget saw before. This seemed to break her heart into two and making it shatter into a gazillion pieces. Tears started gathering up in her eyes.

Jack smiled falsely and said "Oh Bridget. I guess it's even now. Eric can go and hang out with that hot brunette and we can go have a fling"

Eric, speechless, sat in his spot fingering his champagne glass with his forehead wrinkled. His eyes had lost the entire spark in them and he looked like he had aged 10 years older. His back was hunched over and he seemed like he had lost all his energy.

Looking at Eric's hurt body gesture; Bridget seemed to regain the raging fire in her body. The fire in her body frenzied and her dull eyes flashed with anger. Standing up furiously, Bridget grabbed Jack's front collar with rage and pulled him up she walked dangerously close to Jack.

Bridget tightened her grip on Jack's collar and whispered in Jack's ear threateningly "Jack, you dared to show your face up in front of me before and now you dared to try and ruin my life. You didn't though. You're such an ugly loser who has no life and you dare to try and ruin mine too. No wonder you haven't had a girlfriend ever since 7th grade. No girl would ever be with you because you are a liar, player and a greedy hypocrite. You have ruined my day today and I will not let you continue any longer. You will apologize to Eric and tell the truth. You know why I always reject you? It's because of your personality. All you want for a relationship is a fling. You don't want a serious loving relationship. All you want is to be with every girl as possible. You lied many times and now, I will severely punish you for it. I swear I'm going to kick your ass later on. Right now I have to fix up what you ruined and later, you will pay for it. You're so lucky there are a lot of people around or you would have received a black eye and a bloody nose in a second. Stay away from me Jack. Get out of my life. Now."

Bridget let go of her grip on Jack's collar, gave Jack a little push and backed away. A lot of people were staring but she didn't care. Her temper was flaring and she was so mad. Calming herself down, Bridget looked at Eric. He was still sitting down, but his eyes were looking at the champagne in his glass. He seemed to be immensely interested in the bubbles. Bridget prayed that Eric hadn't heard her angry wrath at Jack.

Bridget carefully made her way back to her seat while watching Jack hurry towards the exit. She noticed that Eric had been avoiding her gaze for the past few minutes where they were sitting in silence. Bridget was dying to find out what Eric was thinking and she really wanted to know if Eric had heard her angry talk towards Jack but she understood that he needed time alone.

Excusing herself from the table, Bridget said softly to Eric "I'll be in the balcony okay?"

Eric nodded as a signal that he had heard her so Bridget walked away from Eric. She walked past Carmen and Win, who were still talking and entertaining guests, she walked past Lena, Tibby, Brian and Paul, who were having a grand time dancing and she walked past James and Billy, who were talking to a group of young girls. She made sure that neither of them caught sight of her; she needed time alone.

Bridget opened the great big glass doors of the balcony and stepped outside. No one was on the balcony right now. As soon as Bridget stepped outside, the scene before her made her heart pound. It was a beautiful sight. The moon was big, clear and large. The skies were clear, the stars were bright and the fresh breeze was calm. Everything looked like it was in a peaceful serenity. Bridget sighed and walked up towards the railing, leaning over it.

It was near midnight so there wasn't a lot of traffic and noise in the city. Bridget looked up at the moon and stared at it. It was unusually bright this evening. Letting the light breeze blow on her hair, Bridget slipped into a calm tranquility, letting all thoughts elude her and just letting nature take her breath away. Bridget glanced up at the sky and saw a shooting star. Closing her eyes, she wished _Dear star, please let this night be the best night I ever had. Please let every bad thing that has happened to me this night turn into a good thing. But most important of all, please don't let Eric from stop loving me. _Bridget opened her eyes and stared at the clear sky, praying that her wish will come true._ Now, I need to turn around three times. _Bridget laughed out loud as she remembered that when she was young, she would turn around 4 times just to make sure her wish came true.

Bridget turned once, then twice, then in mid turn number three, Bridget opened her eyes and saw Eric coming towards her with his hands in his pockets. Bridget frantically shut her eyes closed and finished her last turn, nervous of what Eric had to say to her. Bridget left her back turned towards Eric and she stared up at the moon, anticipating what Eric had to say.

"You know you look really beautiful with the light breeze flying through your hair and the moonlight reflecting it?" Eric asked softly, slowly approaching the anxious Bridget.

Bridget opened her eyes wider in shock and held her breath. She hoped this conversation would turn out to be good, instead of bad. Eric noticed that Bridget was a little stiff and she was slightly shaking.

Exhaling, Eric came up behind Bridget and whispered tenderly in her ear "Listen Bee, I am so sorry for what happened tonight. I was always so scared that someday you would find out that I'm not good enough for you and leave me. You're so gorgeous. Any man would die to have you as his girlfriend."

Bridget continued holding her breath waiting for Eric to continue.

Eric ran his hand through his hair before continuing "I was so paranoid about today because the moment I entered this ballroom, you looked so beautiful that I knew that I would have some competition. That's when Jack came up to me and started telling me that you and Jack had been hooking up behind my back. I was so miserable. I knew that it would happen someday. I didn't bother to try and find the truth."

Bridget turned and looked at Eric horrifyingly. She grabbed his hand and said with meaning "Eric no! I would never do that!" Her eyes were filled with worry.

Eric took a glance at Bridget before exclaiming "Oh, I was so stupid. I came to a conclusion so fast; I didn't even take the time to figure it all out. When I heard you talking to Jack, I knew the truth."

"So if you knew that Jack was lying, how come you didn't talk to me afterwards?"

"I was so ashamed of myself. I kept on repeating to myself that you deserve someone better than me"

"Eric!" Bridget grabbed Eric's shoulders and forced Eric to look at her. "Eric, we are perfect for one another. We were meant to be"

Eric pulled Bridget close into a hug while whispering to her "I am so sorry Bee. So so sorry that I ruined our evening."

"It's alright Eric." Bridget said before giving Eric a kiss on the lips.

"Mmm" Eric groaned before pulling himself away. Bridget glanced at Eric questionably.

Eric dropped down to one knee, pulled out a ring box from inside his pocket before saying "Bridget, I know this day hasn't been one of the best for us but I can't wait to do this any longer." Bridget's eyes widened and she was in total shock.

Eric looked at Bridget lovingly before continuing "Bee, we've known each other for 8 years now, and I was foolish to let you go many years before. We've been through rough and good times and we survived them all. I love you beyond reality. I love everything about you; your personality, laughter, voice, eyes, beautiful hair, appearance, heck, I love every inch of you. I love you so much it pains me whenever we are apart. You are my soul and my heart. You bring laughter in my eyes. Without you, I probably couldn't be myself. Around you, I feel joy and happiness that no living person can do the same. With all this, Bee, I ask you…"

Eric slowly opened up the ring box. Inside was a gorgeous stunning big diamond ring. There was a huge dazzling big diamond in the middle, surrounded with a lot of tiny diamonds around them. All the diamonds were on a gold band that was twisted elegantly. Bridget stared at the ring, unable to move. Eric took one deep breath, looked up at Bridget and asked, "Bee, will you marry me?"

Bridget's heart stopped working completely while a strange warm emotion started bubbling up inside of her. She looked down at the kneeling man whom she has loved ever since the day she first laid her eyes upon. This was the man she loved beyond repair.

Bridget dropped down to her knees tears streaming down her face. She gazed into Eric's eyes, the wonderful brown loving eyes, and whispered "Yes, Eric. Of course I'll marry you"

Eric beamed brightly before carefully taking the ring out of its box and affectionately putting it on Bridget ring finger on her left hand. The ring seemed to blend in with Bridget's body; like it was meant to be there all along. Bridget smiled and kissed Eric passionately.

Eric pulled Bridget up and together, they stood on the balcony, kissing romantically, arms tangled around one another, in the bright moonlight, clear skies, and a beautiful sweet evening.


	16. Straightening Things Up

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Sixteen: Straightening Things Up**

**AN- Thank you to: jasmineflower001, Ericluver, Morgan, smartywithch, Rosamond, daniwani2369, 2col4skool2, PriscillaN, sisterhoodgal600, amantedellibro209, and X Inori x for reviewing! It is very much appreciated!!!**

**Please read, enjoy and hopefully, review!**

* * *

_Once upon a time there was this gorgeous girl who went to a fun wedding party, but had the worst time ever. Many problems were building up in that one evening. She had desperately avoided two other men. She also kept away from her three best friends and boyfriend for a few hour for want of alone time, felt distressed for a long time, and almost beat up a man. This girl had a dreadful evening, but there she was kissing like there was no tomorrow, feeling the happiest that she had ever felt in her whole entire life. The End._

Bridget laughed silently in her brain as she was composing this story. She was laughing at how funny this evening had come out and she was also laughing out of pure joy. Eric broke away from their long lasting kiss.

"Bee, are you alright? You seem kind of distant" Eric asked, his eyes clouding with loving worry

Bridget smiled and nodded, saying that she was fine. She smiled sweetly at her fiancé before taking his hand and leading him towards the exit of the balcony. "I'm alright. Let's go inside and watch Carmen and Win cut the cake. I don't know about you, but I feel a craving for cake"

Eric laughed jovially, squeezed Bridget's fingers lightly and replied "That's the Bee I always knew. She always had a hearty appetite."

Bridget warmed up at Eric's comment before she pulled him through the big glass doors and entered back into the wedding party. Coincidentally, Eric and Bridget were right on time. Everyone that was at the wedding party was crowding around the big wedding cake. What a beautiful cake this was. There were 3 layers; each with frilly purple cream and on top was the typical bride and groom statues. Colorful sprinkles were arranged so that a heart was shaped on every layer. Three white pillars supported each layer from each other.

Carmen and Win both held the knife together and they cut through the first layer of cake. The guests cheered. Laughing, Carmen continued cutting the cake until many perfectly shaped cake pieces were cut. Win and Carmen distributed the cakes and everyone began to eat happily.

Bridget pulled Eric to the closest table and sat him down. She sat across from him and together, they shared one piece of cake (Eric claimed that he wasn't hungry and he only wanted a little bit of cake)

Eric fiddled around with his fork a little bit before looking up at Bridget and saying "Bee, now that we're going to get married, we have to tell each other everything right?"

Bridget swallowed her forkful of cake before answering "Right"

"So that means the truth no matter what right?"

Bridget looked at Eric funnily "Right"

"That means you're going to answer truthfully to my question right?"

"Right"

"Okay, Bee, I wanted to know Jack and your history"

Bridget frowned; she really didn't want to bring up Jack again, she just wanted him out of her life and forgotten. "Eric, there's no history. Jack always had a big crush on me ever since middle school and I've rejected him every time he said something." Bridget said this with emphasis.

Eric seemed to lighten up a bit before saying "Oh. Okay. I understand. I'm sorry I brought that subject up. Let's forget about Jack now alright?"

Bridget nodded but her eyes seemed to linger past Eric's shoulder. It was Billy and James approaching her. She didn't care really, after what happened in the balcony, she was in the best mood to deal with anything. In fact, she didn't even know why she kept on avoiding James and Billy.

James was the first to arrive at Eric and Bridget's table. He made quite an entrance too. Pulling out a chair really fast and plopping down on it really noisily and making a trumpeting sound with his mouth, James smiled, looked at Eric once before slapping Eric on the shoulder and greeting him with a really loud voice "Bro! You're here with the pretty maiden! Wassup?"

Eric laughed and replied "Nothing much. So, how are things going back in your house?"

"Pretty good"

James and Eric then started laughing about some manly joke that James had made. Bridget was really cheerful that they had gotten along really well.

Billy finally arrived at the table and sat himself down in an orderly fashionable manner. "Hello Bridget" Billy said politely. He took a quick glance at Eric before saying "Hello Eric"

Bridget almost snorted with amusement. Billy was being such a polite jerk. James looked at Billy strangely and Eric didn't even make eye contact with Billy. Things were pretty quiet after Billy's greeting.

After many awkward silences, Bridget finally decided that she was in the best mood to deal with anything. She asked loudly and cheerfully "Does anyone else want more cake? I'm famished!"

Eric looked up from the table he was staring at, smiled at Bridget before saying "No thanks"

James looked up from his shoes he was staring at and replied "Okay, I'll come with you to get more cake"

Billy shook his head no, while keeping on an emotionless expression.

Bridget frowned at Billy. He was acting like such a jerk. A jerk who thought he was above all of them. But still, nothing could dampen Bridget's mood whenever she was in high spirits. "Come on James. Let's get some more cake"

James stood up from his chair and followed her. When they arrived at the cake table, only 5 slices were left. Bridget took one and signaled James to take one for himself too. She then turned around and started walking back to the table; she figured leaving Eric and Billy alone on the table for a long time was a recipe for disaster.

"Wait!" James called after Bridget. He grabbed her left hand and pulled her back. Bridget stumbled towards him before he held her balanced. James opened his mouth to say something when his hand accidentally brushed Bridget's left hand ring finger. His hand came across her engagement ring. James took Bridget's hand and brought it up so he could see the ring better.

"Whoa! You're… engaged? Wow!" James sputtered, full of shock. Bridget beamed proudly, happy with herself that she was going to be married to the one she loved.

James began inspecting the ring closely before he brought his head up and whispered "Bee, I'm so happy for you! The problem is Billy's going to be so heart broken. He absolutely loves you"

Bridget frowned. "But I don't love him"

James shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Ugh! How many problems do I need for one night?" Bridget complained while storming back towards the table. Eric was still sitting there awkwardly; he was clearly uncomfortable. Billy was staring down every move Eric made. Bridget marched towards Eric, gave him a big smack on the lips and sat down right beside him. Eric looked up confused, and Billy's eyes widened before poring over ever single move that both Bridget and Eric made.

Clearing her throat loudly, Bridget waited until James was all settled down on the table before announcing "Billy, I just wanted to let you know that Eric and I are engaged"

Billy's jaw opened and closed, not sure what to say. Eric smiled and put his arm over Bridget's shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, Billy opened his mouth and quickly said "Congratulations" before hastily leaving the table and disappearing in the crowd. James stood up to go too. He said a few things of congratulations, gave Bridget a quick hug and Eric a quick brotherly whack on the shoulder.

After watching James leave, Bridget leaned on Eric's shoulder and whispered "I guess now it's you and me"

Eric hugged her a bit tighter and said "Let's take a walk around"

Bridget nodded in agreement. Eric stood up and held out a hand for Bridget. Bridget took it and he pulled her up. He didn't let go of her hand though. Together they walked around and occassionally stopped and complimented on some of the wedding decorations.

* * *

Bridget wondered around in the garden while waiting for Eric to come back out from the Men's washroom. She silently took a look around, feeling blissful and light. She hummed the wedding song while she fingered her engagement ring. For a moment, Bridget thought that nothing could turn out wrong. Sadly, she was extremely wrong. 

Bridget heard a scream and she followed the sound of the scream, curious to know what had happened. There before her, was Jack harassing Effie, Lena's younger sister. Effie was crying and huddling near the ground while Jack was standing above her, trying to get her to stand up. Jack had his jacket thrown on the ground and his shirt unbuttoned. Jack was suggesting and teasing Effie about stuff and Effie was whimpering things like "Go away!" and "I don't want to!"

Bridget suddenly couldn't take it anymore. She was mad at Jack for ruining her evening today, she was mad at Jack for lying to Eric and now she was mad at Jack for hurting Effie. She sprinted towards Jack and Effie and threw herself in between them. Effie was crying softly behind her and Jack was turning red in frustration at Bridget.

He quickly smirked mischievously and said "Oh Bridget. I didn't know that you still wanted me. Come to think of it, you might be more enjoyable than that girl. Now that you have me, come on!"

Before Bridget could react, Jack fell backwards grabbing Bridget with him onto the ground. She fell onto Jack, who still had a firm grip on her arms. Screaming, Bridget pulled herself off Jack. Jack laughed maniacally and pinned Bridget down onto the ground using his arms and legs. He had her in a firm body lock. Laughing greedily, Jack started kissing Bridget's neck.

Effie looked at Bridget terrified. She was frozen to her spot. Bridget looked at Effie and urgently mouthed one word "Eric!" to Effie.

Effie understood. She stood up and left the place sprinting. Bridget kicked Jack where ever she could reach but Jack had an extremely tight hold on her. She managed to put a few bruises on Jack's legs but he was really strong. Bridget tried to pull her arms out of Jack's grasp but her arms weren't as strong as her legs. After all, she was a soccer player. Not a tennis player.

Jack continued his journey upwards toward her lips. Bridget thrashed around as much as she could and she screamed really loudly. _Think of Eric, think of something! Don't let Jack get through to you! _Bridget desperately tried to keep fighting but she was on the urge of giving up and crying. _Be strong! Don't give up. Keep this up! Effie will get Eric. _

Gathering up her strength, Bridget counted down to put her plan into action. _Three… two… ONE!_ Bridget pulled one of her arms free and gave Jack a hard strong slap. Jack's mouth twisted with pain but he still was resistant. His eyes seemed to turn darker with anger, and he was now moving from her mouth downwards. Bridget's hatred for Jack grew and the rage in her body grew even hotter and fiercer.

_Okay, let's try that one more time. Three… two… ONE! _With every ounce of strength left in her body, Bridget tried to push Jack off of her. Surprisingly, Jack's body flew up and slammed against the wall. Bridget panted; surprised that she could do that. Her pride lasted only a few seconds because she realized that Eric was standing above of her, his eyes full of fury. It was he who had pulled Jack off of Bridget and slammed him into the wall. _Man, I knew Eric was strong but not THIS strong. I couldn't pull Jack off of me but Eric could do that. Not only could he lift up Jack but he was able to slam him into a wall too._

Eric's eyes changed from full of fury to worry, he rushed towards Bridget and kneeled down. Eric pulled her up to her knees; he looked at Bridget's face and neck. There were a couple of scratches here and there, physically, Bridget was okay but mentally, Bridget felt like breaking down.

Eric pulled her into a big warm hug and he held her tight, close to him. Whispering in her ear, he said "Bee, I was so scared. I'm so sorry I took a long time."

Bridget started to cry. She loved Eric so much; he was so sweet and caring. Eric hugged her tighter and kissed her cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack trying to scramble away silently. Eric quietly stood up and walked calmly towards Jack. He pulled Jack up by the collar and said quietly but threateningly "I have seen enough of you. If I see you ever again, I'll beat you up good. You're lucky I'm not calling the police!"

Eric raised his fist, preparing to punch Jack but Bridget's arm stopped him. Eric looked at Bridget questionably.

"Please" Bridget said to Eric. "I want to do it"

Eric let go of Jack and slowly backed away giving Bridget space.

Eric winced as he saw his fiancée take a good look at Jack before kicking him as hard as she could in the groin area. Jack's squeal of pain was so high, it sounded like a mouse. Jack shrunk down on the ground and his face was extremely red; Bridget ALMOST felt sorry for him.

Bridget stood there and stared at Jack for a few seconds. She knew that if she had punched him, it wouldn't hurt because her arms weren't as strong but if she kicked him, it would hurt because her legs were finely developed. It also helped that she 'accidentally' kicked Jack near the groin area.

Eric pulled Bridget towards him and whispered in her ear "Come on, let's go. Leave Jack there"

Bridget smiled and together, they headed back to the party where they would say good bye and leave.

Bridget smiled happily as she reflected on her day. Sure it could have been better but she had tackled two problems in one day. She was happily engaged with the man she loved beyond repair and she had saved one of her best friend's sister.

So cuddling on the couch in Eric's flat with Eric, she knew that nothing could make this day even better.

Bridget whispered to herself "Mrs. Richman" and smiled happily. That name seemed to fit and it had a slight tune to it. "Mrs. Richman" She whispered it to herself again.

Eric shook his head at her and said "No, Mrs. Richman is my mom. You're Mrs. Bridget Richman"

Bridget smiled and said "Mrs. Bridget Richman" It had such a nicer ring to it.

Bridget grinned and hugged Eric tighter.


	17. Swimming in Love

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Seventeen: Swimming in Love**

**AN- Special thanks to: PriscillaN, jasmineflower001, and Ericluver for reviewing!**

* * *

If there was a song that Bridget would despise the most, it would be the one that was ringing on her cell phone at 7:00AM on a Saturday. Groaning with frustration, Bridget figured that she couldn't ignore the annoying high pitched ring anymore. She stumbled out of her bed and grabbed her cell phone. Not caring to check the caller I.D, Bridget flipped open her cell phone and mumbled out a sleepy "Hello?"

A bright and cheery voice replied back "'Morning Bee!"

Bridget knew instantly that this was Eric. She brightened up considerably. "Hi sweetie!" she said, "Why are you calling so early in the morning?"

Eric replied "I wanted to let you know about my plans for us today"

"Okay"

"I was thinking of going swimming with you today in the lake at the Greengrass Park."

"What lake?" Bridget asked confused.

"You know the lake where we re-met… the one where you cried at."

"Ooh, that lake. The lake in GreenRUN Park."

"Yeah… the lake in Greenrun Park"

"But isn't the water going to be cold?"

"No, I was taking a morning run when I decided to go past the Greenrun Park Lake and check out the water. It's not cold… It's actually really warm"

"Umm… okay"

"Meet me at my place **(AN- after Bridget's and Eric's encounter at the lake a few days ago, Eric bought a new, modern and stunning flat near Bridget's house after selling his old apartment in New York)** in one hour"

"Sure"

"And after that, we are going to go eat at a restaurant"

"Sounds great"

"Okay… I'll see you in an hour"

"See you… Love you"

"Love you too, bye"

"Bye"

Bridget shut of her cell phone and looked outside her window. Only Eric would phone her at 7AM on a Saturday to go swimming. Eric was always an early riser. _Yes, that's my fiancé. _Bridget thought to herself.

* * *

­After stuffing a long colorful beach towel, extra changes of clothes, a hair brush, sun lotion, her wallet, cell phone and a water bottle in her cute new beach bag, Bridget was ready to go. She was wearing a black and white horizontally stripped bikini underneath her white Capri's and a turquoise tank top. She had white big sunglasses perched on the top of her carefully brushed hair and she wore colorful flip flops to match.

Bridget screamed out to the house "Dad! Perry! I'm going to take a swim with Eric!" and left her house. Mr. Vreeland and Perry did not know that Bridget was engaged yet. Bridget had figured that it would be best if she waited until the perfect opportunity.

Pretty soon, Bridget arrived at Eric's flat. She loved Eric's flat. It was really cozy and welcoming. It was colorful and it reflected Eric's bright, sweet and loving personality. Bridget knocked on Eric's door. A few moments later, Eric opened it. He was wearing swim trunks and a simple green shirt. He carried nothing but his car keys and his wallet.

Bridget arched her eyebrow. "Aren't you going to bring a change of clothes or something? Maybe a towel too?" She asked.

Eric glanced down at his clothes. He thought about this for a while before nodding and racing back into his flat to get his stuff. Bridget wandered inside and took a look around. Eric's flat wasn't messy; but it wasn't tidy either.

Eric came out of his room holding a folded pair of long beige baggy shorts and a simple white towel. He held out his items towards Bridget and asked "Can you put these in your bag too?"

"Sure" Bridget answered as she stuffed Eric's things along with her things.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah"

"Let's go!" Eric led Bridget towards his car and together they drove down to Greenrun Park.

* * *

As soon as Eric and Bridget arrived at Greenrun Park, they raced competitively towards the lake. Eric won by half a second.

"You didn't win, I did! It's because of your legs. They're longer than mine" Bridget complained playfully.

Eric shook his head and argued back "No, I won fair and square'

Bridget laughed as she took off her outer wear. It was a little chilly with the wind but Bridget didn't mind. The lake was deserted of course, because no one had discovered it yet. Bridget tied up her hair into a ponytail before taking a glance Eric.

Eric was standing there, apparently looking at her too. They laughed as they made eye contact. Bridget's gaze eventually wandered from Eric's face towards his chest and stomach. They were finely developed, each shaped structurally. _Man, he looks good. _Bridget thought to herself. Before she could say anything else, Eric had pulled her up to her feet. Skillfully, Eric lifted Bridget up into his arms. She instinctively threw her arms around his neck. But Bridget knew right away that this was a mistake. Eric was grinning, but he had a mischievous look in his eyes.

Bridget narrowed her eyes at Eric and said "Eric, you wouldn't dare"

Eric laughed and said "Never dare me Bee"

Bridget screamed as Eric jumped into the lake. The cold water was frighteningly cold.

Bridget came up sputtering and looked behind her. Eric was beaming happily. "Eric I thought you said the water was warm!" Bridget said, slightly shivering. She shoved Eric's head under the water playfully.

Eric swam up, looked around innocently at the water. "Cold? It's warm. Don't worry, you'll get used to it later!"

Bridget shivered one last time before her body adjusted to the water temperature. Before Bridget could say anything back, she felt herself being lifted. And before she knew it, she was flying back into the water.

Screaming, Bridget swam up back out of the water. Eric looked like he was laughing silently at her. Bridget narrowed her eyes before declaring war. She swam down and tried to pull Eric under. Eric laughed and tried to pull Bridget under water.

Pretty soon, Eric and Bridget were both laughing so hard and trying to pull one another down under the water that they were in danger of drowning.

* * *

"I am so cold" Bridget announced while she got out of the water. Eric was following behind her. They had announced a truce after Bridget nearly drowned herself because she was so exhausted. Eric, used to this kind of activity was panting slightly, but he looked like he could have gone on for another 2 hours.

Bridget dried herself with the towel when she said "Eric, this lake is full of good memories"

Eric nodded and suddenly, in mid-nod, he froze in motion.

"What's wrong?" Bridget asked, concerned.

Eric didn't respond. He dived back into the water and swam underwater. Bridget was starting to find this weird. They were just done drying their selves up and now; Eric just got himself wet again.

A few minutes later, Eric rose back up out of the water holding a green jersey triumphantly.

"What the?" Bridget asked confused. It was then she realized that Eric had gone searching for the green Kickers jersey she had thrown in the water when she was mad at him and herself.

Bridget screamed with delight as she came scrambling towards Eric.

"You found it!" She said.

"Yeah, I think it was a home for the fishes."

"Oh, I feel so bad for throwing it into the water."

"Ah, like I said before, if you want one, I have a gazillion at home"

"Well, in that case, we'll just throw this one back into the lake for the fishes."

"Sure"

So together, Eric and Bridget threw the jersey back in the water.

* * *

"So Eric, when do you think we should tell everyone that we're engaged?" Bridget asked in Eric's car. They were just driving back to Eric's flat after their swim.

Eric pondered about this for a moment. "Hmm… I was thinking that we should invite everyone to dinner and announce it there."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. That way, we won't have to keep repeating ourselves. But what restaurant though?"

"Maybe 'The Caribbean Blues'"

"Oh! That's a good restaurant. Who should we invite?"

"Your dad, Perry, my parents…"

"Greta"

"Diana"

"Lena, Tibby and Carmen"

"Win, Brian and Paul"

"I think that's enough"

"I think so too"

"When should we invite them?"

"Invite them today and we'll tell them tomorrow"

"I can't wait to see their reactions!"

"We should have a video camera hidden somewhere"

Bridget laughed, "That would be funny."

"Yeah, that would be funny."

"I can't wait for tomorrow"

"I can't wait either"

* * *

**AN- Hope you enjoyed it! The next update should be in about a week so keep your eyes open! Please review!**


	18. Trouble

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Eighteen: Trouble**

**AN- Thank you to: 2col4skool2, morgan, BeeVree3, amantedellibro209, Maddie, PriscillaN, Ericluver, jasmineflower001, and smartywithch for reviewing!!!**

**I would also thank 2col4skool2 for convincing me to change the engagement announcing from a restaurant to a picnic!**

**Enjoy!**

o0o

"Eric! Where's the butter?" Bridget asked irritated. The couple had changed the announcing of their engagement at a restaurant to a picnic because Eric couldn't reserve a table large enough to fit all their guests at so little notice. So here they were, standing in the middle of Eric's kitchen for the past few hours trying to finish up all their cooking.

Eric opened up his fridge and tossed Bridget the butter. Both of them were cross and grumpy for having to cook at such an early time but they had no choice. The picnic was in 2 hours and mostly everyone said they would be there. Bridget and Eric invited Greta, Bridget's dad, Perry, Lena, Tibby, Carmen, Diana, James, Win, Brian, Paul and Eric's parents to the announcing of their engagement. Only Eric's parents couldn't make it because they lived too far away.

Eric and Bridget had a grand time making up lies to make the guests come to their picnic. They wanted to surprise everyone at the same time. Only Tibby was a little suspicious; but then again, Tibby was always suspicious.

"Argh, Eric, where's the cheese?" Bridget asked again, frustrated. They were preparing the picnic food in Eric's kitchen only because if they did it in Bridget's kitchen, Mr. Vreeland might see them. Eric sighed silently, maintained his temper, and tossed Bridget the cheese. They were serving ham sandwiches, chicken wings, fruit salad, ceaser salad, banana crème pie and punch for lunch. Bridget was preparing the sandwiches and Eric was mixing the ceaser salad.

One and a half hours later, Eric and Bridget finally finished cooking their picnic meal. They put it in a very plain picnic basket and set off towards their destination. Eric and Bridget chose the Greenrun park as their destination because it held a lot of fond memories.

Bridget quickly said "Come, I know the perfect spot"

Eric nodded and followed Bridget towards the spot.

o0o

Bridget sighed in relief. Preparing a picnic was such hard work. They had set up the blanket and laid out the food. Now all they needed to do was to wait until the guests came. The guests should come in about 3 minutes. Bridget sat on the ground feeling relaxed for the first time today.

"Thanks for being so patient with me today. I know I've been a little grumpy. Sorry." Bridget said turning around towards Eric, where he was kissing her. Eric smiled then frowned out at the pathway. Bridget followed Eric's line of gaze and she saw what he was looking at; a distressed passing figure running by.

"Who's that?" Bridget wondered out loud.

Eric squinted at the passerby then abruptly stood up and ran after the figure.

"Eric!" Bridget exclaimed. Eric was being so mysterious. She ran after Eric and caught up with him. He was still following the figure. "Eric, what's wrong?"

Eric replied "Just something I have to deal with. You go back and greet the guests. I'll come back as soon as possible." Eric laid a quick kiss on Bridget's cheek before running faster towards the distressed figure.

Bridget stood in her spot and watched Eric run after the figure. She frowned confused. Bridget slowly made her way back to the picnic. She was just in time because Lena, Tibby, Carmen, Win, Paul and Brian just arrived.

"Hello!" Bridget greeted her guests.

An echo of hellos was their reply.

Lena looked around searchingly. "Bee, where's Eric?"

Bridget's smile faded just a little but she quickly replaced it with a wider smile. "Umm… Eric's… ah… attending something… something… important right now"

Everyone looked at her weirdly but they quickly thought better of it and decided to ignore it.

"Mmm Bee, this looks delicious" Brian said, eyeing the food.

Bridget smiled. "Thanks" she said.

Win cleared his throat and said "So Bee, congratulations on getting a new job" Eric and Bridget made up a whole bunch of lies to get their guests to come so that they would announce their engagement.

Tibby arched her eyebrow, looked at Win and said "Win, we are all invited here to celebrate Eric's dog's birthday. Look, I even brought a present"

Lena shook her head and said "No, Paul and I were invited to celebrate Bridget on buying a new car"

Greta, Mr. Vreeland, Perry, Diana and James arrived unto the arguing crowd. They quickly joined the conversation talking about how they were invited.

Suddenly, everyone became quiet and looked at Bridget, who was lingering near the food. In unison, they said "So?"

Bridget sighed and said "Listen, Eric and I am really sorry that we lied to you all about coming here but…" Bridget fidgeted a little. She wanted to wait until Eric came back but she figured he won't be coming back soon. "… We all invited you here so that we could announce out engagement. Eric and I are getting married"

A loud eruption came from the guests. Lena, Tibby, Diana and Carmen were squealing and gushing over Bridget's engagement ring, Greta, Win, Paul, James and Brian were congratulating her and Mr. Vreeland and Perry stayed back, looking a little hesitant.

"Ahem" Mr. Vreeland coughed. Everyone looked at him. Mr. Vreeland fidgeted a little because he wasn't used to a whole crowd of people. He hesitantly walked up to Bridget, put a hand on her shoulder and said "Congratulations"

Bridget smiled and said "Thanks Dad"

Perry came up to Bridget and asked "Bee, where's Eric?"

Everyone stopped their conversations and waited to hear Bridget's answer. Once again, Bridget said "Eric is attending something very important"

No one thought this was a very good answer but they didn't push it. Bridget smiled and said "Let's eat!"

o0o

A few hours later, everyone was stuffed. The food was good and the weather was just right. Mr. Vreeland, Greta, Diana, James, and Perry had to leave so Bridget said her goodbyes. Paul, Win and Brian went to get the cars, leaving Bridget, Carmen, Lena, and Tibby alone.

Lena, Tibby, and Carmen were helping Bridget clean up the mess. The four were completely silent, each lost in their own thoughts, Eric hadn't shown up yet and Bridget was deeply disappointed, confused and miserable. All through the party, she had put on a false happy mood and pretended that Eric not being there was totally alright. But really, she was so let down that Eric did not appear.

Once Lena, Tibby, Carmen and Bridget finished cleaning, Bridget had to hold her breath and look away in fear of bursting out into tears in front of Lena, Tibby and Carmen.

Tibby made a weird noise before asking Bridget "Bee, why do you suppose Eric didn't show up for his own engagement announcing party?" Bridget shrugged, pretending that she didn't care but really, it hurt like someone had sliced her up into bits.

Lena nodded and said "Isn't it crucial that both the fiancé and the fiancée both announce their engagement?" Bridget once again said nothing.

Carmen frowned and said "Bee, is everything alright? Why isn't Eric here, helping you with this party?" At this point, Bridget wanted to break down and cry but she was determined not to let Carmen, Lena or Tibby see it. She didn't want them to be involved in her problems.

Bridget straightened up her sagging shoulders, looked Tibby, Lena and Carmen in the eye and said firmly, "Everything is alright. Thanks for worrying though. I guess you should go home now."

Lena, Tibby and Carmen were hesitant into leaving but they did anyway, leaving Bridget all alone in the park. It was getting dark now, the sun had set and the moon was beginning to shine.

Bridget gathered up her stuff and walked slowly towards Eric's car. She put the picnic basket on top of it and went to sit on the bench overlooking the large field.

Bridget sat on the edge of the bench with her legs dangling down. Around her, the people were laughing, socializing and some were getting ready to leave the park. Above, the moon shone down with a brilliant light, making the shadows of trees stretch across the large field.

Bridget looked at the crescent moon, deeply hurt that Eric hadn't shown up for the party. Why hadn't he shown up? Wasn't this party important to him? This was supposed to be one of the best days she ever experienced. He left her alone at the party, humiliated that he hadn't shown up, and sad that he didn't make the effort to show up either. Instead, he was with some distressed person doing who-knows-what. In fact, he didn't even bother telling her what's going on. He left her there dangling, confused and depressed. Who would ever do that to their fiancée? Leaving her to handle a party by herself, explaining why he wasn't there, and just leaving her there, so puzzled.

A shiver ran down her spine, alerting her to the presence of Eric approaching her. Bridget silently scoffed. How dare he show up in front of her when he had left her alone at the party, alone to announce their engagement?

"What?" Bridget said rudely. She was really pissed off at Eric for… everything.

Eric stood beside her but Bridget made no motion to move so that he could sit beside her. She just sat there waiting for his explanation.

"Listen Bee, I know you're really mad at me for not attending the-" Eric said

"Really mad, really mad? Nothing will describe how I feel. Nothing!" Bridget interrupted. "You left me alone Eric." Bridget stared off into emptiness. She was hurting all over. Her head was hurting for holding in all her tears, her whole entire body was aching from hurt.

"Bee" Eric pleaded "I can explain everything. The girl we saw was Jolene, she was looking really upset. I didn't know why she was here but I had to know so I-"

"JOLENE? You left me alone at our engagement party for Jolene, your ex-girlfriend? You left your fiancée for an ex-girlfriend?" Bridget stood up and faced Eric. Her whole body was shaking and tears were pouring out. She wiped her tears away, but she was unable to hold them back. "Do you have any idea of what I had to go through today? Today was supposed to be one of the best days of my life! But instead, I feel so miserable!" Bridget stormed off towards the field. She hated Eric, she really did.

Eric followed Bridget and placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking away. Bridget turned around sadistically. "Don't touch me!" She shouted.

Bridget continued to walk away but Eric was right behind her. "I clearly miscalculated you Eric. You're nothing but a selfish man who doesn't think of anyone but himself. You are so self-absorbed!"

Bridget took one more glance at Eric before racing off across the field. She ran as fast as she could, sprinting across the field towards and back to the park. Eric however, didn't give up. He continued running after Bridget. "Bee" Eric pleaded, continuing to follow Bridget. "This is no use, we both are extremely good runners and we could keep running like this for a few miles. I'll just keep running after you Bee. Stop and let me explain please"

Bridget knew that this was true but she didn't want to be close to Eric anymore. She ran all the way to her house, not bothering to stop for a quick break. She was exhausted but her mind just kept telling her to keep on going. Bridget ran into her house, slammed the door, locked the door, closed all the windows and ran into her room. Eric was outside, knocking on the door and yelling "Bee! Open up please!"

Bridget quickly told Mr. Vreeland and Perry to ignore the knocking, even though she knew they wouldn't hear it, wearing their earphones and listening to their music and all. Bridget closed the door to her room, made sure her curtains were closed and buried herself under her many layers of blankets in her bed. She slowly muted herself out, closed her eyes and drifted into a quiet depressed mood.

An hour later, Bridget got out of bed. She didn't fall asleep because she was too occupied crying. She went downstairs and cautiously peeked outside. Eric was gone. Bridget couldn't help but feel a bit let down. She was kind of hoping that Eric would continue knocking on the door frantically; like how some men do all night in the movies.

_I guess I'm not that important to Eric after all. _Bridget thought depressed. She slowly walked up into her room, pulled off her engagement ring and put it in a small box. She opened the box, took one last good look at the ring and whispered "Goodbye Eric Richman". She wrapped the box with paper, put the box in a bag, tied the bag and threw it in the trash can. Bridget gathered up all the stuff that reminded her of Eric (the pictures, the new Kickers jersey he gave her, etc.) put them all in a cardboard box, taped up the box and labeled it "Trash". She then put it out in the kitchen so her dad could throw it away.

Bridget had never felt this poignant. She felt as if her heart had shattered into a million pieces, then crushed into smaller pieces then thrown away. She had given her heart and soul to Eric and he had once again broken it.

* * *


	19. Yogurt

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Nineteen: Yogurt**

**AN- Thank you to: jasmineflower001, 2col4skool2, Zoey, Inu, vballfanatic, PriscillaN, Anonymous, Insane and Logical, Libby, smartywithch, and bookcrazygirl for reviewing chapter eighteen!!!**

**Also, I would like to thank jasmineflower001 and 2col4skool2 for suggestions when I had a major writer's block. Although I didn't use any of their ideas, they did help a little.**

**Enjoy!**

o0o

It's been 2 days since Eric had attempted to try and explain things over with Bridget. He was fed up; after all, it wasn't _completely _his fault. He tried and tried explaining things to her, but she just won't listen. Eric fell back onto his mattress and stared at the ceiling. He had run after Jolene because he was worried why she had come all the way here from Italy, where he had left her when they broke up.

"_Jolene!" Eric said mentally in his head as he watched her run distressed down the road. He leapt up and ran after her, worried and curious. He knew Bridget was confused but he wanted to know if Jolene was alright. He laid a kiss on Bridget's cheek to remind her that he was totally true and loyal to her, then, he ran after Jolene._

"_Jolene!" Eric yelled, running to keep up with her fast pace. Jolene was an Olympic runner. She had won Silver in a contest once. "Jolene!" Eric called again. But once again, Jolene did not stop. _

_Eric sprinted faster than he had ever ran and caught her slim wrist. "Jolene" Eric said again, but softer and gently. Jolene turned slowly and Eric caught a sight of her face. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks had dried up tears on them, with more newly fresh tears taking their place._

_Eric felt pity for her instantly. He still cared for her, truly he did. They didn't break up harshly; instead, they remained close friends. Eric laid a hand on Jolene's trembling shoulder. "What's wrong?" Eric asked._

_Jolene took a look at Eric before bursting into harder, more rapid tears. "Eric…" She sobbed. "Why are you here?" She didn't know that Eric lived here now. _

_Eric quickly dismissed that question. "That doesn't matter. What really matters is what's wrong…"_

_Jolene bawled and finally managed to get out two meaningful words. "Dad… gone…"_

_This was all Eric needed to hear. He knew that Jolene was extremely close to her dad and her dad had recently been experiencing severe troubles with his heart. "Oh Jolene…" Eric whispered. _

_Jolene burst out crying again. "Come on Jolene, stay by that bench over there" Eric said, leading Jolene to the bench._

_By sunset, Eric fully understood the story. Jolene's dad had died of a heart attack, and on the same day, Jolene got fired from her part time job. To top things off, her brother had run away too. All on the same day too. This was why Jolene ended up here. She couldn't take all the pressure so she flew all the way here, in hopes of starting a new life with no troubles. Poor Jolene, Eric mused. She's officially an orphan right now. Her mom had passed away when she was young._

_Eric knew that he was leaving Bridget all alone in their engagement party but he just couldn't bring himself to leave the poor, miserable, unfortunate Jolene. _

_By the time Jolene was able to compose herself properly, Eric knew the engagement party was far over. Eric quickly exchanged phone numbers with Jolene and told her he'd see her daily. He made sure Jolene got back to her hotel safely before he went to search for Bridget. _

And indeed, Eric had found her. He found her fuming, extremely enraged on the park bench. No one could say he hadn't tried to explain. He left after fifteen full minutes of trying to get Bridget to open up her house door. Surely, he hoped that she hadn't expected him to stay there all night. He really wanted to fix his and Bridget's relationship but he wasn't foolish enough to sleep outside her door. He might get trampled by Mr. Vreeland or someone. Or worse, Bridget could call the police saying that he was stalking her.

These past two days, he emailed her 10 times, left her numerous messages, knocked on her door 3 times, and he even tried to explain things to Carmen, Tibby and Lena, who were apparently mad at him too. So now, after 2 days of effort, he gave up.

Eric quietly wondered what to do today. He spent his last two days trying to get Bridget to forgive him, but honestly, he should be the one who has to forgive her. He already visited Jolene; she was pulling herself together slowly, but she was progressing, which was good. He was so bored right now; he decided to clean up his whole entire home.

After a full 10 minutes, Eric had made a mental list of what to do. He would spend one hour vacuuming the floors, 30 minutes dusting the furniture, 10 minutes cleaning the dishes, 20 minutes trimming the hedges, 10 minutes cleaning the bathroom, 10 minutes putting all his books in alphabetical order, 10 minutes putting his dinnerware in order, by size, 5 minutes to talk to his mom, 5 minutes talking to his dad, 5 minutes talking to a random person, 45 minutes ironing _all _his clothes, 15 minutes organizing all his clothes by color, 20 minutes polishing his shoes, 10 minutes matching his socks, 1 hour restocking the fridge, 1 hour doing paperwork for his soccer team the Kickers, (this was long overdue), 10 minutes washing his car, 20 minutes cleaning the inside of his car, 5 minutes polishing the windows of his car, 10 minutes finding his long-lost TV remote, 10 minutes polishing his pictures, 10 minutes cleaning out the ash in his fireplace, 10 minutes chopping up more wood for his fireplace, 10 minutes watering his plants, 10 minutes trimming his tree, 2 minutes making his bed, 2 minutes fluffing up his pillows, and finally, 10 minutes talking to each and everyone in his address book.

Indeed, Eric was a very busy man. He didn't need a certain beautiful blonde to make his life content. So half-heartedly, Eric set off to complete the plentiful tasks he assigned himself to do.

o0o

Fifteen blocks away, Bridget settled down on her couch with a hot cup of coffee, 5 chocolate bars, 2 bags of chips, a foot massager and a warm fleece blanket. She turned to the latest soap opera (apparently, handsome blonde doctor was having affairs with both pretty petite nurse and sophisticated brunette secretary while handsome blonde doctor #2 was broken because pretty petite blonde had broken up with him for handsome blonde doctor #1…) and watched.

Bridget felt this aching, gnawing pain in her heart that was telling her that she hopelessly and greatly missed Eric. Her mind on the other hand was constantly telling her that she and Eric were done for good. It took all her willpower to stay away from Eric.

These past two days, Tibby, Lena, and Carmen had been faithfully to her side, comforting her. She had told them the story right after she disposed of all Eric's stuff. Sadly, her mind couldn't take it anymore. She missed Eric. She truly, really, really, really did. She saw him everywhere. When she woke up, she swore she saw Eric's shadow. It was really creepy. She screamed really loud when she saw it. Poor Mr. Vreeland and Perry ran to her, right after she had screamed, worried.

Her mind was clogged with memories of Eric everywhere. On her couch, her bedroom, the park, the school… _everywhere. _Bridget bit down on her chocolate bar. She was doing what Lena, Tibby, and Carmen called "Man-Therapy". Bridget was careful on what she ate these days because she was scared that she would grow fat again over Eric. There was no way that she was losing her carefully developed figure over Eric _again. _

Bridget knew Eric had emailed her, knocked on her door, and phoned her numerous times these past two days and it took all her willpower to not answer them. She missed him so much but she was still upset that he had missed the wedding engagement.

_Maybe I should give Eric a chance. Maybe he actually has a good answer and I'm just being so superficial to not listen to it. Maybe Eric never meant to… Maybe he has a really good explanation why he wasn't there… _Bridget thought silently in her head. _But wait a moment… what if he really did leave the party on purpose? What if he saw Jolene, realized he loved her, and went running to her? What if he thought I'm not good enough for him? After all, Jolene is petite size, the cute and pretty kind. Oh, I just don't know what to do. _

Bridget sighed for the 10th time. She knew that she missed Eric a lot. She couldn't bear to stay away from him. He was like her heart and soul and now, when he's gone, she felt that there was a big Eric shaped hole in her.

_Enough of that! _Bridget scolded herself. _Eric is over and that is officially it. Go on with life! _Bridget stood up, shut off the TV, and went to get some yogurt.

Bridget looked in her large white fridge. There was no yogurt left. _There was no yogurt left!_ Bridget absolutely needed yogurt. It was her healthy craving ever since she left college. She had two kinds of cravings. One healthy craving, which was yogurt and one calorie gaining craving, which was chocolate.

Bridget decided to get along with life. She decided to go to the store to buy some yogurt. Bridget threw on khaki Capri's and a white t-shirt. She grabbed some money and left the house.

o0o

Eric was done 6 things on his mental list of things to do. It took him 2 hours and 10 minutes, which was exactly what he planned. Now he was on #7 on his list. It was to arrange all his books in alphabetical order. He walked towards his bookshelf, which was overflowing with books and began to start.

Eric got to the letter K. He suddenly stopped there. Hand mid-way reaching for a book, Eric thought _dear God; I really must be going insane! Ordering my books in alphabetical order? Have I gone totally absolutely crazy? Since when did I organize my books? I need a break to clear my head!_

Eric shook his head slowly, seriously, why was he doing this? Oh yeah, he remembered now. It was to keep himself occupied and away from Bridget. Did he miss her? _No not really._ He thought. _Who am I kidding? I miss her so much! How can one woman drive a man insane? _

Eric sighed and went to his fridge to get himself a sandwich. Turkey, lettuce, bread, mayonnaise, pickles, tomatoes, ham, bologna, ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, cheese- Wait! He had everything on the list except cheese! How was he supposed to eat a deluxe-Eric-sandwich without cheese? Eric decided to run to store and get some cheese. He put on some jeans, a t-shirt and his watch. He grabbed his wallet and left the house.

o0o

Bridget strolled down the aisle happily. She looked at the different types of yogurt there. There was strawberry flavored yogurt, chocolate flavored yogurt, mixed berry flavored yogurt, strawberry flavored yogurt, peach flavored yogurt and vanilla flavored yogurt. But where was her favorite kind of yogurt, mango? Bridget quickly scanned the shelf for it.

Standing on her the tips of her toes, she craned her neck and saw one last container of mango flavored yogurt. _Ah, why is mango so popular these days? And the last box is so high up there! I can barely see it standing at my normal height! _

But Bridget needed that last container of mango flavored yogurt. She absolutely adored it. It tasted so sweet. So that was why Bridget founded herself stretching up as high as she could trying to grab it. Teetering dangerously on the tip of her toes, Bridget felt her left hand fingers brush the surface of the container of that deliciously good mango flavored yogurt.

"Here, let me get it" A soft but strong deep masculine voice said. Then the guy stretched up and grabbed it, his hand colliding with hers. Bridget lowered herself, planting her feet firmly on the ground and looked up to see who it was. The guy was still holding her left hand. Bridget looked up and was about to say thanks but then she saw who it was.

Eric.

Bridget froze and looked up at Eric's eyes. He looked slightly apprehensive. Bridget presumed that this was because he was wondering how she would react.

"Um… Ah… Eric….hello…thanks" Bridget stammered, unsure of how to act. He was still holding her left hand. His touch was so soft and familiarly nice that Bridget found herself enjoying his touch. Bridget suddenly knew that she should forgive him. After all, she missed him terribly so.

"Eric, I'm so-" Bridget started off, but stopped because she saw that Eric was looking at her left hand. Bridget vaguely speculated why he was staring at it.

Eric's eyes finally reached her eyes. He let go of her hand. Bridget saw hurt and confusion in his eyes. Suddenly it clicked. He was acting all peculiar because he was hurt that she had no engagement ring on her finger.

Bridget immediately felt her cheeks flush. She just had to explain now. There was nothing that was going to repair their relationship except the truth.

Bridget took a deep breath and started off. "Eric…"

* * *


	20. Kicker's Embarrassment

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Twenty: Kicker's Embarrassment**

**AN- Thank you to: jasmineflower001, BeeVree3, Insane and Logical, amantedellibro209, Dudly, BrookieCookie490, funky-monkey-93 for reviewing Chapter Nineteen.**

**Thank you to my anonymous reviews: Janette, morgan, Maddie, BeckhamLover and dunno for reviewing chapter Nineteen.**

o0o

"Eric!" Bridget exclaimed as she tried to catch up to Eric, who was now storming out the grocery store. She caught him by his arm. Bridget looked deep in Eric's eyes and pleaded "Eric, please. Let me explain. Earlier on, I made the mistake of not letting you explain, so I'm not letting that mistake happen between us again."

Eric halted abruptly and turned around. He stood there, unsure of what to expect. Bridget took this chance to continue on. "I'm so sorry; I've been really moody and un-understandable. I let one simple thing that I knew nothing of get in between us. The reason why I took off our engagement ring is because-"

Eric cut Bridget off. "You took off our engagement ring?" His eyes quickly skimmed at her left hand and then back to her eyes. His dark right eyebrow arched questionably.

Bridget frowned in confusion. Wasn't this why Eric stormed out of the grocery store? "But I thought… you were… mad… because I took it off" Bridget stammered.

Eric shook his head and replied "No, I didn't 'storm' off; I was merely walking out of the store"

"But you took a look at my left hand, dropped it, then walked away" Bridget insisted.

"No, I was walking out because I didn't want to create a commotion in the middle of the store. Besides, I didn't think you would want to talk to me anyway."

"You didn't notice the engagement ring?"

Eric frowned. "No… but now that I know about the engagement ring, why are you not wearing it? Are we no longer together?"

Bridget shook her head frantically. "Listen Eric, I took it off because well, I was upset that you didn't come to our engagement party."

"Did you give me a chance to explain why?"

"Uh… no" Bridget smiled sheepishly

"Will you let me now?"

Bridget nodded.

"Finally! You see, the girl we saw before was Jolene. I was wondering why she was here and so I became worried. Bee, Jolene's father died and she's been mourning ever since. She needed my support. I couldn't bear to tear myself away from her when she was so distressed."

Bridget finally understood. She wrapped herself around Eric and murmured in his chest "Oh Eric, I'm so sorry. I was way too quick on judging things. Will you ever forgive me?"

Eric rested his head on top of hers. "Yes" he simply replied.

Bridget relaxed into his arms, contented at once, breathed in his scent until- "Eric, why do you smell like air freshener and polish wax?" Bridget asked curiously.

Eric's voice boomed with laughter. "I cleaned my house."

Bridget faked surprise. "You did? Wow! Is it raining pigs outside?" She said sarcastically.

Eric crushed her lean body into his muscular toned body. "Very funny" He remarked.

o0o

Bridget happily sighed as she walked all the way back home. Everything was perfect now, she and Eric were back together, and she got her mango yogurt. Life was good… except just two little thing; she needed to restore all her Eric stuff before he came over AND she needed to find that engagement ring… that was in the trash.

Bridget frantically ran into her room and dumped her trash can on her desk. She started searching until she found the bag that contained the box that was wrapped in paper and opened it. There, sure enough, was the glittery big diamond on a silver delicate band. Bridget lovingly cradled it, and then put it on her slender finger. She scooped up the trash and put it back in the trash can. Bridget ran downstairs and found the box that was labeled 'trash'. It contained all the Eric-related stuff. She brought it upstairs and unpacked all of its components.

After she was done, Bridget took a sniff at her room and scrunched up her face. Her room smelled bad because of the garbage. Bridget ran across the hallway and got some air freshener. She sprayed her room before deciding that she should polish up her ring so that Eric wouldn't notice it was in the trash for a few days.

Once done, Bridget sat down on her bed, contented and satisfied. She took another sniff of the air and caught a smell very familiar to the one she smelt in the grocery store.

"Great" Bridget muttered. "Now I smell like Eric. Air freshener and polish wax"

Bridget sighed and went to take a shower.

o0o

Eric silently sneaked up into his house. It was eerily clean. It kind of scared him. He wasn't a very messy person; he just wasn't very organized either. Eric walked up to his bookcase. The bookcase was polished to its brightest and the books were arranged in alphabetical order. _Had I really gone crazy? Nah, now that my relationship with Bee is fixed, I can go back and be sane now. _Eric chuckled to himself. _Now I don't need to clean up this place until… 2 more months._

After taking a sniff at his hand, which reeked off house cleaning items, he decided to go take a shower. Later in the day, he would meet up with Bridget and go out for a nice romantic dinner evening.

_I'm a busy man now! _Eric thought cheerfully to himself. Happily relaxed, Eric decided to go mess up his bookcase again because it looked too neat and tidy for him to be at ease.

o0o

2 days later, Eric and Bridget got together at Eric's place and went through the whole stack of wedding invitations. Eric bought 6 boxes full of wedding cards earlier on. Bridget sat down on Eric's nice white leather couch and started addressing them to the guests they were about to invite. They planned to invite 310 guests because Eric wanted to invite his soccer players and their families too.

They worked as a pair; Bridget wrote out invitations and Eric tied them up with a ribbon and sealed them in an envelope.

_This is dreadfully boring! _Eric complained quietly to himself. He'd been tying, stuffing and sealing their wedding invitations for the past 2 hours and they were only… one quarter through. At this rate, Eric would probably be so skilled in tying ribbons and sealing envelopes that he could probably do it in his sleep.

_One invitation for Greta, another for some friend of Eric's named Dominic, and one more for Eric's other friend, Ryan. Oh gosh, I am going to go slowly insane. My hand is so cramped, my eyes are blurry from looking at the long list of guests, and my butt is aching from sitting in the same spot for 2 terribly long hours. I wonder how Eric's doing… _Bridget thought. She glanced over at Eric and noted at how his eyes were full of concentration and how efficiently he tied ribbons and sealed envelopes. Bridget also perceived that Eric was biting his bottom lip. _I wonder why he's doing that… Is he biting his lip to stop himself from screaming out loud in frustration? Or is he doing that because he's so focused? _

Bridget was right. Eric was biting his bottom lip he was stopping himself from roaring with frustration. He felt so restless. All this work was so hard. He was only doing this for Bridget. That was the only reason.

o0o

Another two days later, Eric and Bridget finally mailed all 310 guest invitations. Bridget sighed with relief. One thing was accomplished and now, she had… many more to do. The next thing to do was to buy all the wedding favors and put them in small cute clear jars that she spotted in a store many months ago.

Eric and Bridget walked down to Eric's place again, with their arms loaded with boxes and bags full of wedding favors. Sitting down on Eric's white leather couch, they began to work. Eric was filling half of the small clear jars full of small pastel colored candy and the other half of the small clear jars full of vibrant colored candy. Bridget was rolling up the small pieces of expensive paper and placing them in the jar full of candy. On these small pieces of expensive paper, Eric and Bridget had written in fancy letters:

Dear Guest,

Thank you so much for coming to this special day of ours. We really appreciate that you have come and celebrated our extraordinary day. We will continue to be love and be together in everyway, through both the good and rough times. Once again, thank you for coming.

Newlyweds, Eric and Bridget Richman

After placing these rolled up 'parchments' in the jar, Bridget would be closing the jars and tying a ribbon around them. Bridget had no idea how Eric managed to tie these small ribbons so efficiently and smoothly on the envelopes. She was having a difficult time tying them on the jars. As the time pasts by slowly, Bridget began to get very irritated with these ribbons. She took a glimpse of Eric, hoping to see what his technique was when she caught him popping a few candies in his mouth.

"Eric! Don't eat those! We need them for the guests!" Bridget cried as she lunged over and tried to snatch away the few candies he had left over in his hand.

Eric always had fast reflexes so he swiftly moved his hand out of Bridget reach. "But Bee, we have about a gazillion of these candies. A few of them eaten won't hurt" Eric replied.

Bridget playfully pouted. "Fine, but don't eat anymore."

Eric shrugged, popped the rest of the remaining candies in his hand and replied, "Sure"

Both of them resumed working. Halfway through tying a ribbon around a jar, Bridget narrowed her eyes at Eric and asked him, "Eric, I was just wondering, did you eat any candies before I caught you?"

Bridget could have sworn she saw Eric flash a wide grin before he leaned over and said "Here, let me help you with this ribbon". He quickly tied the ribbon and leaned back, satisfied with his work.

Bridget shoved him playfully and said "Show off"

Eric grinned and went back putting candies in little jars.

o0o

3 days later, Bridget packed all 310 guest favors in boxes beaming happily. She had accomplished 2 things and now, she still had… many more to go. Bridget rubbed her forehead. Organizing a wedding was painfully hard. Luckily, Eric, being a sweetheart, helped her through every single moment. Now she hoped he would continue and help for the rest of the tasks.

Eric put down the phone silently and groaned. Jolene was crying again and she had begged with him to come and comfort her. Today was his only day off from planning the wedding and he had planned to relax all day. Eric couldn't say no; for some odd reason, he had a weakness for crying women. _I have got to get rid of that weakness. _Eric thought. He walked up to his fridge and read a post-it on his fridge. It said 'Kickers soccer practice today 2PM"

Eric had forgotten about this. He was so caught up in the wedding craze that he was hardly paying any attention to his soccer team. Eric phoned Jolene again and told her he had to coach. Jolene even bawled harder and louder. Eric sighed. He couldn't say no, he just couldn't. So he said yes and immediately Jolene cheered up.

_Maybe Bee could sub for me._ Eric thought. He picked up the phone again and called her.

"Hello?" Bridget picked up.

"Hi Bee" Eric said.

"Hi Honey" Bridget said warmly.

"Listen, I know today was supposed to by your free day but I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure"

"Jolene begged me to come over today and I couldn't say no"

"Okay…"

"But the problem is, at 2PM, I have a soccer practice for the Kickers. I need you to sub for me"

"Oh! But Eric, I'm not very good at coaching."

"Nonsense, you're the best coach I had ever known."

Bridget blushed. _Thank goodness Eric didn't see me do that. _She thought. "I'm not" Bridget insisted.

"Yes, that's right. I almost forgot. I'm the best coach." Eric teased.

Bridget laughed. "Sure I'll do it, but you have to tell me what to do."

"Umm… they usually run for 12 minutes, then sprint for 2 minutes, warm up for 5 minutes then I make them go through drills."

"What kind of drills?"

"You know, the drills we used to do in Baja"

"Oh, I see"

"So are you up to it?"

"Yes, I'll sub for you."

"Good. Thank you so much Bee. I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything."

Eric laughed. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay"

"Thanks and Bye"

"Bye"

"Love you"

"Back at you"

Eric put down the phone. He hoped the Kickers don't be too hard on Bridget. Some of the players were sometimes extremely arrogant and dirty minded.

o0o

Bridget clutched her clipboard tightly. She was extremely nervous coaching the best known international soccer team in the world. The Kickers were starting to arrive. As soon as every one of them arrived, Bridget cleared her throat.

"Umm… Hi, I'll be your sub for today because Eric had some… personal issues to deal with."

One of the shorter soccer players said "Hi baby, you're hot. Do you want to hang out or something?"

All the other soccer players laughed and let out their cries of agreement.

Bridget frowned. Didn't he even hear her? Replying, she said with a strong firm "No"

One player with brown hair named John laughed throatily. "Eric has personal issues? Like what??

The other guys laughed. Together, the guys started naming off disgusting things such as bad breath, body odor, foot fungus and sexually transmitted diseases.

Hearing this, Bridget's eyes flashed with anger. "No!' She said angrily. "Not personal issues like that; it's something to do with his ex-girlfriend"

The guy beside John commented "Do you mean Jolene, that flirty babe?"

All the other guys laughed once more. Another soccer player added in "Last time I heard, Eric broke up with her in Italy for some blonde chick."

Another soccer player replied "I think so… didn't they get married?"

Bridget frowned. Didn't they recognize her? They met in Baja and played against each other. Oh well, Bridget thought. It's been a long time and guys usually have a short memory span for strangers. But didn't they see her wedding invitation? Oh wait, they weren't scheduled to be delivered until tomorrow.

John added in "Yes, from what I heard, Eric's wife is supposedly more beautiful than life."

Bridget arched her eyebrow and had to bite her lip to stop herself from smirking.

Another player shook his head. "Man, why does Eric always get the hot chicks?"

Bridget stood there frustrated. They were talking as if she wasn't even there!

All around, the Kickers laughed. One soccer player Bridget recognized as Tyler, the goalie said "I saw a flash of her picture in Eric's wallet once. Man, she was so hot. She had straight, long beautifully blonde hair and a tall lean body that could fit right in to one of our men's magazines. She had gorgeous eyes that were the color of..."

Tyler trailed off. His eyes quickly glanced at Bridget. His face turned to a color that matched a beet and muttered to Bridget "You, by any chance, aren't Eric's wife right?"

Bridget smiled and said "Yes, I'm Bridget. I'm Eric's fiancée."

All the Kickers gaped at her. They were slowly turning red.

Bridget noticed their discomfort and said "Now that we have that settled, let's go for a 12 minute run." Bridget started off, leading the team.

While Bridget was running, she heard snippets of the Kicker soccer player's who were running behind her whisper quietly to each other.

"Dude, Eric's going to kill me for hitting on his wife."

"No kidding. I don't believe that we talked about Eric's social life in front of his fiancée."

"That has to be the most embarrassing moment ever."

"I don't believe that I was telling you guys about how hot Bridget was in front of her face." Bridget recognized this voice to be Tyler's.

All the surrounding guys laughed.

A soccer player with a deep voice replied "But you have to admit, she's so hot. Eric is a lucky man."

The other guys nodded in agreement.

Bridget heard all this. After all, she was only 2 meters ahead of them. She turned, pretended she didn't hear any of this weird conversation and shouted out "5 more minutes left!" She then turned around and continued running.

Bridget couldn't wait to tell Eric all this. She was sure he'd laugh about this and threaten to beat up the guy who tried to hit on her. She wasn't sure how he would react but she knew that he would, no doubt, laugh about it. Running, Bridget imagined Eric's rich, deep laugh echo through her head.

* * *


	21. New Beginnings

**Love can Overcome Anything **

**Chapter Twenty-One- New Beginnings**

**AN- Thank you to my reviewers: rupertgrintlovesmeandonlyme, BeckermanLover, maximum-calories, PriscillaN, Blissful Flight, smartywithch, ****CrazyHSMgirl, 2col4skool2, BrookieCookie490,  
Maddie, i heart hairspray, jasmineflower001**

**Without your reviews, I would have never continued or updated my story. So thank you for the encouragement!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Eric sat for the hundredth time slowly down on Jolene's beige colored couch. And for the hundredth time, he patted Jolene's back sympathetically. He had spent 3 whole hours consoling the crying and mourning Jolene. Apparently, 3 hours of his consoling did nothing to the sobbing Jolene. He was seriously surprised at how much this woman could cry. Her purple tin foil trash can was filled up with soaked tissues and was beginning to overflow. 

"Hush Jolene. It's alright. Your dad is in good hands now" Eric said, rubbing her back. He hoped his words were comforting but he doubted it. He's repeated them so many times that he lost track of how many times he said it.

Unsurprisingly, Jolene burst out crying even harder. Eric sighed quietly and plucked out another tissue from the almost empty tissue box and handed it to Jolene. He had tried everything to calm Jolene down. He had run out to the movie store and bought her 3 of her favorite series but they were playing on her TV being unnoticed. He had run out to the grocery store and bought her 5 chocolate bars, a bag of chips, 3 buckets full of her favorite ice cream flavor, cookies n crème, but they sat on the table untouched.

Honestly, Eric tried everything. Unfortunately, everything wasn't enough.

o0o

Meanwhile, Bridget was having the time of her life. She loved coaching the Kickers. They were so… professional unlike the kids she coached before. They knew their stuff. All she had to do was to bark an order and they would do it, easily. She's been working the Kickers' butts off for the past 3 hours but most of them haven't broke out in a sweat yet. Well, she was doing the exercises along with them and even she hadn't broke out into a sweat yet too, so they weren't all that superior to her.

Tweet! Bridget blew her whistle. "2 more minutes, then we'll play a game for fifteen, then the days over!" She said happily. This was life. Coaching the top international soccer team in the world, and knowing that they thought she was hot was the perfect life. It must common knowledge to every young and old women that the Kicker players were attractively good-looking. Some had stunning hair, some had striking eyes, and some had a great face. All of them were really super-buff-and-fit-like-the-models-on-magazines kinds of guys. How did she know this? Well, half way through coaching, the sun was blazing so they had taken of their shirts.

_Cut it out Bridget! _Bridget scolded herself silently. She was an engaged lady now. She wasn't her old carefree, young self anymore. Besides, she was already engaged to the most drop-dead gorgeous attractive guy already. The Kicker players could never compare up to him. He was super fit, he was hot, he had a great personality, he was unselfish, he was kind, he was smart, he was tall, he was envied by all coaches that were coaching a smaller soccer team than him, he was a star soccer player, but most importantly, he loved her. She only had eyes for him and not anyone else. She wasn't shallow; really. She would marry an ugly (in media standards) man if he loved her and she loved him back.

Bridget smiled happily to herself. Her life was perfect right now. She looked at the Kicker players doing some soccer drills. Sure, they were half-naked, and if she was a high school girl, she would have gone straight out and start flirting with all of them but now, she was engaged to her perfect guy.

Speaking of her perfect guy, how was he doing right now? Bridget hoped that he was already back home and relaxing. She knew that sometimes, Jolene's crying could really tire Eric out. Which leads to the question to why she was here, and not there, helping him with Jolene. She already extended soccer practice because she loved coaching the Kickers, but helping Eric out would be so much more nicer and understanding.

Bridget looked at her watch. It was already past 10 minutes. She really should help Eric. She looked out onto the field and said "Come on guys! That's enough for a day! Bye!"

Bridget stepped aside as the Kicker players started bombarding into the change rooms. Finally, her day was over. She bent over and picked up her sweater and bag. She turned around and waited for the Kicker players to leave.

About 3 minutes later, most Kicker players were leaving. Bridget smiled cheerfully and went to fetch her car keys that she left on top of Eric's desk, in his office. While inside the office, Bridget heard a group of Kickers walking by. She couldn't resist, so she ducked out of view and listened to the conversation.

"Yo dude" Said a Kicker player with a low voice. "Bee is a harder coach than Eric."

"No way man. She's coaches exactly like Eric, but the difference is that Eric coaches out of strategy while Bee just coaches."

"Well, no duh, Eric knows the strategies for beating the other teams. Bee doesn't know any of that"

"Not her fault. She never coached an international team before."

"The TOP international team"

All the Kickers burst out laughing.

"Still man, Eric is one lucky dude"

"Joe, are you still hanging over Bee?"

All the guys laughed.

Their laughter slowly faded away as they walked out of sight. That was a slightly useless and boring conversation. Bridget stood up from where she was hiding and brushed herself out. Maybe Eric had cleaned his home but he has definitely not cleaned his office yet.

Bridget picked up her car keys and began to go home. The conversation that the Kicker players said wasn't interesting. She knew Eric was a better coach than her. It was because the Kickers were his team. He had handpicked them from across the world, coached them, and brought them up to the top soccer team in the world. He knew all their weaknesses and strengths.

Speaking of Eric, she really should give him a hand at helping Jolene. But first, a quick stop at the convenience store.

o0o

"Ugh" Eric groaned. He quickly cooled off by splashing his face in cold water. Eric stared at himself in the mirror in Jolene's washroom. Were there wrinkles on his forehead? No way! He couldn't grow old now! He was still young and fresh. Eric frowned at his image in the mirror. He suddenly remembered something.

_-Flashback-_

"_Eric Richman" The Kicker's doctor, Dr. Sanders had called._

_Eric walked into the inspection room for his monthly checkup with his Kicker players. _

_He went through all the tests, and check ups then he left the office. Eric walked slowly to his car and sat down in the driver's seat. He rubbed his forehead vigorously He was so stressed out. It's been 2 weeks since the first summer he had met Bridget and he still couldn't get his mind off her. _

_He messed up with her… badly. The worse thing was that he still loved her. He tried everything to get her out of his head but it wasn't working. He went to a gazillion clubs. He met quite a few pretty ladies but he went no further than kissing with them. Every time he kissed them, all he could think of was Bridget. And how swiftly her blond hair moved whenever she was running, how her long legs… argh! He needed to stop thinking about Bridget. Now!_

_He seriously needed to get Bridget out of his head. It was amazing how one woman could drive a man to endless nights of not sleeping. _

_Eric's cell phone vibrated against his muscular leg. He took out his cell phone from in the pocket of his cargo pants where it was resting and answered it._

"_Hello?" He said_

"_Hi Eric. This is Doctor Sanders. I was just evaluating your test results and everything seems to be in tip top shape."_

"_That's good" Eric said. He tried to sound interested but he had the same conversation with Dr. Sanders every month. _

"_Yes. But there is one thing that worries me a bit."_

"_What?" Eric's ears perked up._

"_You seemed stressed today. I can see it in your forehead. If you haven't noticed, whenever you get stressed, there will probably be one or two little wrinkles on your forehead. To avoid this, I advise you take a break from coaching. Or to take a little vacation to clear you head of whatever's stressing you."_

_Eric quickly glanced at himself in the back mirror. Indeed, there was a puny small wrinkle on his forehead. "Bee" Eric muttered conclusively to himself._

"_What was that?" Dr. Sanders asked._

"_Oh, uh, nothing really. Thanks for the advice doctor" Eric replied_

"_Very well then. I'll see you next month" Dr. Sander's had said._

_Eric shut off his cell phone. He dropped his head onto his hands. He needed a break. All this stress was going to kill him. That's when he thought of a genius idea. He should go on a vacation to Los Angeles. He always wanted to go to Los Angeles. _

_Eric booked his flight and before he knew it, he was on an airplane to Los Angeles. _

_Eric looked out the window as his plane was landing in Los Angeles. "So this is the city full of celebrities and such" Eric quietly said to himself._

_As Eric was getting his luggage from the luggage belt, he was pushed off balance by a huge luggage. Being a 'jock' as his old high school friends called him, he quickly regained his balance. Eric picked up the huge heavy luggage and handed it to the person without giving a thought about it. _

_He put the luggage on the person's cart and for the first time, took a real look at the person. She was a girl, a really pretty one. She smiled and said "Thank you. The luggage was so heavy and I accidentally lost my grip on it. Sorry for almost pushing you over. My names Kaya" She flashed her pearly whites at Eric._

_Thus, the beginning of a relationship between Eric and Kaya._

_-End Flashback-_

Eric smiled at himself. He remembered that on that day, the instant that Kaya had introduced herself, he had thought to himself that this was the girl to take his mind of Bridget. Indeed, she had taken his mind of Bridget until he went to coach again. The reunion, as he called it. He knew Bridget was coming but he really wanted to take a break from coaching the Kickers. The Kickers weren't a big famous soccer team until after the third summer, where he finally took all his time to coach them and bring them to the top of the international soccer team.

Eric went out of Jolene's washroom and walked back into the living room, fully expecting Jolene to still be crying.

Much to his surprise, she wasn't crying. Instead, she was laughing! Eric froze mid way. He frowned. Something was definitely wrong with this scene. He had left the crying Jolene to go to the washroom 5 minutes ago and now, 5 minutes after, she was laughing.

Eric gasped in surprise as he found himself being tackled to the floor. He whipped his head around to see who it was. Of course, he should have known. It was Bridget.

Bridget laughed happily as she got up from the ground. It was really fun tackling Eric to the ground when he wasn't looking. She held out a hand to pull Eric up. He took it and let her pull him up.

"You took so long in that washroom! Jolene and I were beginning to think that you drowned in the sink." Bridget explained happily.

Just as Bridget told Eric this, Jolene burst into many uncontrollable squeals of laughter.

Eric looked from Jolene to Bridget. This was so weird. He spent 3-4 hours trying to console Jolene but she wouldn't stop crying. He left to go to the washroom, came out and there, Jolene was sitting there all happy. Eric sighed silently. Life was sure tough on him.

Bridget noticed Eric's tired look and laid a quick kiss on his lips. "I decided to come and help you out"

Eric smiled gratefully at Bridget. She was his savior for the day. He honestly thought that if he spent 20 more minutes with Jolene, he too would burst into frustrated tears. Eric walked to Jolene, who was still trying to control her peals of laughter, and said "I'll see you soon okay?"

Jolene nodded and Eric and Bridget left Jolene's house together.

o0o

Bridget sat cheerfully on Eric's stool in his kitchen. She popped a juicy cherry in her mouth. Eric was in the shower. She waited patiently for him to finish.

Pretty soon, Eric came out to the kitchen looking all clad in a white t-shirt and jeans. His hair was wet and tousled, but it still looked perfect anyway. He pulled another stool over and sat down on it. He gazed at Bridget for a few moments. She looked so beautiful in her jeans and white shirt. Well, she always looked beautiful Eric thought to himself. And she was all his.

Bridget looked at Eric. He was just staring at her. She threw a red cheery at him. "Who are you looking at?" Bridget said teasingly.

Eric broke out of his thoughts and came back to reality. He laughed and popped the cherry that Bridget had thrown at him in his mouth. "You. You have a problem with that?" He replied teasingly.

"No." Bridget replied, laughing.

Eric gazed at Bridget again and said "Listen Bee, I was just thinking…"

Bridget averted her full attention to him.

"Since we're going to get married and all that jazz, I was thinking that maybe it was time for you to move into my flat."

Bridget froze, cherry mid way into her mouth. Was she ready for this? Could she really leave her house and move in with the man of her dreams? Bridget mentally whacked herself on the forehead. Duh! She would love to.

Eric looked at Bridget, who was all deep in thought.

She then replied "Yes, I'd love too."

Eric smiled and said "Come on then! Let's get you all packed!"

Bridget smiled mischievously and said "But…"

He waited for her to continue,

"But there has to be one condition."

"Yes?" Eric asked cautiously. Bridget was known for her crazy ideas.

Bridget laughed and threw another cherry at Eric. This time he caught it with his mouth. "I want to rearrange this place a little bit."

Eric sighed in relief. This wasn't so bad. In fact, he was glad to allow Bridget to rearrange his home. It would be her home too, from now on.

"Sure" He replied.

Bridget grinned and said "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Go where?"

Bridget laughed and replied "To the store dummy!" She grabbed Eric's hand and half dragged half pulled him out of the door.

Eric stumbled then regained his composure. He stopped Bridget from pulling him out of the door. "Why do we need to go to the store?" Eric asked, afraid of what the answer was.

Bridget laughed some more and replied "I want to repaint the place and buy some new furniture!"

"What?"

"Yes! You said I could rearrange the place. I need it to look more… what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yes. Feminine."

"What?" Eric asked, shocked. His married friends had warned him of the 'crazy-wife-and-re-decorating-things-trend' but he had laughed them all away, thinking that Bridget would never do that. They had warned him to prepare living in a house painted pink and purple but he still laughed them away, saying that they were ridiculous. Now, Eric made a mental note to believe whatever his friends say.

Bridget laughed harder at the look on Eric's face when he heard her say feminine. "Eric" She said. "I'm only joking. I wouldn't even want to live in a place full of feminine stuff."

Eric sighed in relief.

"All I meant was that I wanted to repaint some of the walls, maybe cream colored, or whiter, or light blue. We'll decide it later. Then I was planning to buy some new furniture to match, a little redecorating, and stuff that I would need."

He frowned confused. "What stuff could you possibly need?"

Bridget arched an eyebrow. Could men be really this shallow? "Are you sure you want to know?" She asked.

He nodded, still confused at what Bridget would need.

Bridget laughed and said "I need stuff such as... I don't know… tamp-"

Eric cut her off with a quick cough. "Oh! That stuff! Sure, we'll go buy some. But don't you have any at home?"

Bridget shook her head. She was running low with them. She then started laughing again.

Eric looked around him. "What?" He asked. For the past 15 minutes with Bridget officially 'living' in his home, she had been so confusing.

"You… you're turning red!"

"I'm not!"

"Well, before you were"

"Okay, let's just go shopping and forget we ever had this odd conversation."

"Yes"

Bridget dragged Eric out the door and pushed him in his driver's seat. She ran to the other side of his car and plunked herself down on the passenger seat. "Onward! To the furniture shop!" She said in a joking commanding voice.

Eric sighed and put his keys into the car. Bridget was going to make his life so interesting. He was scared to see what crazy thing Bridget would demand after this. He highly doubted that his life would remain boring with her in his life. He only prayed that his flat wouldn't turn into some girly girl pink with fluffy pillows kind of flats.

o0o

Eric quickly scanned the shelves in 'The Paint Store' to see if they have snow white paint. Bridget had suddenly decided she wanted to paint the washroom white on the north and south walls and tile the east and west walls. They spent 3 hours looking for the 'perfect' furniture, as Bridget called it, and then they spent another 2 hours looking for the 'perfect paint'. He wasn't really enjoying all the shopping but he knew Bridget loved it so he didn't say a word. He would do anything to make Bridget happy.

Eric had left Bridget back it his flat, or their home, while he ran to find the paint that Bridget wanted. She called her idea the 'fast inspiration'. While he was running to find the snow white paint, he also dropped by the bank to combine their bank accounts. Together, their money and savings would let them to have a great life. Well, to be honest, Eric had the most money, being the coach of the top international team and all, but he was too modest to say anything about it to anyone.

Eric quickly scanned the shelves again until he saw the paint Bridget wanted. He quickly grabbed it and went home.

o0o

Bridget carefully rolled up the sleeves Eric's shirt. His shirt was a bit too long for her, but she liked it anyway. It skimmed her thighs. She was wearing Eric's shirt over her clothes because she didn't want paint on them. She got Eric's permission first anyway, so she didn't mind getting paint on his shirt.

She started very carefully. One stroke, then a second one over it. It was fun to paint Eric's living room. She couldn't wait to see the results. Bridget hummed cheerfully to herself and turned on the radio. She sang along with this popular song.

20 minutes later, Bridget sat down on the floor. She was half way done. It was a little tiring, but she was an athlete, and was used the kind of muscle endurance. Bridget put her hand down to support herself when she accidentally put her hand in the bucket of paint.

Bridget lifted up her hand, which was covered in paint and laughed happily at herself. She wiped the paint on Eric's shirt.

"I thought you said you could paint" Came a deep baritone voice.

Bridget turned around to face Eric. "I said I could paint, but I didn't say I was neat at it"

In reply, all she got was laughter.

"Here, let me help you" Eric said, picking up another paint roller and dipping it in paint.

Bridget laughed at Eric's remark. She pretended to be thinking. "Hmm, that phrase sounds familiar"

And once again, all she got was laughter in reply.

So together, for the rest of the evening, the happy couple painted and redecorated Eric's whole flat, not knowing how it would look like in the end.

* * *

**AN- This isn't my usual good ending but I couldn't find a way to stop this chapter. This chapter's already my longest one yet, 8 pages on Microsoft Word. It was hard to find time to write this chapter because I have started studying for my final exams and it's very time consuming. I had to get a little 'kick in the butt' by one of my reviewers to update because I took so long. **

**I really do appreciate your reviews because they make writng worthwhile and it gives plenty of encouragement. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be full of... let's say... life changing events and big surprises. **

**Please review!**

**Love,**

**OrchidPrincess**


	22. Happily Ever After?

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Twenty-Two- Happily Ever After???**

**AN- Thank you to my awesome reviewers: i heart hairspray, CrazyHSMgirl, rupertgrintlovesmeandonlyme, TheFourRoses--Maddie, jasmineflower001, Blissful Flight, smartywitch, nightengale88, BeckermanLover, 2col4skool2, maximum-calories, and BrookieCookie490 for reviewing! You guys are so awesome! Thanks for the inspiration!**

**Now, enjoy!!!**

* * *

5 days later, Eric stood back, resting his hands on his hips. The renovation was done, and it looked really good. He liked every single room, except for the bathroom. The bathroom looked really weird. Bridget got the sudden inspiration from one of her old childhood dresses. It was painted light purple, with humongous yellow and white polka dots on it. Bridget was always lively. He should have guessed that one of his rooms would turn out something like that. 

The renovation cost a whole lot of money. About a tenth of his and Bridget's savings.

Speaking of money, Eric needed to get to work. "Bee! I'm going to work!" Eric said loudly at the door. Bridget was in the shower and he could hear her singing some silly popular song. She loved the bathroom look.

Sighing, Eric picked up his car keys and left the flat.

o0o

Eric came back from coaching the Kickers. It was just when he drove his car into the driveway that he noticed that there was a familiar looking car in the drive way. He couldn't quite remember who the car belonged to though. He walked cautiously up to the door, unsure of what to expect. He unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Eric listened intently for any sounds. What he heard almost made him gasp in surprise. He heard lots of cruel swearing and a lot of yelling. But this wasn't the only shocking thing. The most shocking thing of all was that he heard two female voices. One he knew was Bridget's, and the other sounded like…

Kaya.

Eric immediately frowned and remembered his past with Kaya.

He went out with her the summer after he met Bridget, and he claimed he loved her. But on the third summer, he met Bridget again and broke up with Kaya after he realized he loved Bridget. They went out for about 3 years, until they had to separate because they were going different directions. He was going around the world to coach the Kickers and Bridget had to go to college. They lost contact after Bridget started dating this guy named Timothy in high school.

On Eric's flight around the world, coaching the Kickers, he met up with Kaya and they got back together. Then about 6 months after, they broke up because Eric realized he still loved Bridget, he went to find her. He found her at Greta's house, but then she wasn't happy to see him, so he left. He then found Jolene and Bridget had Billy. Then after all the conflicts Bridget and Eric had to deal with, they eventually got back together… for good.

It's been about 1 month since he last saw Kaya. That was the day he broke up with her. She didn't look happy, but Eric's mind was all on Bridget.

Eric chuckled silently as he remembered how many times he broke up with and got back together with both Kaya and Bridget. But now, he knew that he loved Bridget, and their life was not going to change anymore.

Eric shook himself out of his memory daze and went into the living room. Just as Eric entered the room, both ladies stopped their yelling and turned over to look at him. This gave him a chance to observe the scene in front of him. The sight was terrible. Pillows were strewn and the once-clean table was now spilled over with tea and coffee. The room looked like a mess. Bridget was standing up, her eyes glazed over with anger and Kaya's face was streaming with tears. In fact, if Eric looked closely enough, Bridget's eyes were kind of watery too.

o0o

"Eric…" Bridget muttered. She looked clearly distressed. Bridget remembered how all this started.

_Bridget had gone out of her new lovely bathroom to go and get some food. She threw together a fruit salad. She sat down on the table, eating contently and waiting for Eric to come back home from work. About 7 minutes later, Bridget heard the doorbell. She went to go answer it, thinking it was Eric. _

_She opened the wooden door. A young woman with curly brunette hair appeared. _

"_Hello" Bridget greeted, thinking this woman was a door to door salesman. _

"_Hi. Is this where Eric lives?" The brunette asked._

_Bridget frowned. Who was this mysterious woman? "Uhh… Eric's not home, but I can take a message."_

_The brunette grimaced and asked "Who are you?"_

_Bridget shot back "Who are you?"_

"_My name is Kaya."_

"_Kaya?" Bridget asked. She remembered hearing this name from somewhere. Bridget quickly racked her brain for a memory. Then she found it. Kaya was Eric's former girlfriend. What was she doing here? "Come on in" Bridget said. She lead Kaya into the living room._

"_This is a nice place." Kaya complimented._

"_Thanks"_

"_So who are you?"_

"_My name is Bridget"_

"_Are you Eric's girlfriend?"_

"_No, I'm Eric's fiancée."_

_Kaya's eyes flashed with anger and sadness. "Fiancée? No way couldn't he have…." Kaya trailed off._

"_What?" Bridget asked._

_Kaya shot Bridget a dirty look. "How could Eric go for this kind of woman? She's so ugly. Her hair looks so fake, and that tan must cost a lot of money. She looks like she went through plastic surgery a couple of times." Kaya muttered softly to herself._

_Unfortunately for her, Bridget heard every single word. "Hey! I'm not fake! I never went through surgery and I never died my hair!" Bridget's eyes clouded over with anger. Who did Kaya think she was, interrupting Eric's life?_

"_Whatever sweetie" Kaya said mockingly in a sweet voice. _

"_What do you want and why are you here?" Bridget said angrily._

_Kaya ignored this question and walked over to the coffee table. She picked up one of the albums lying on the table. Kaya flicked through the pages briefly. _

_Bridget frowned and took the album away. "What right do you have touching our stuff?"_

_Kaya laughed a short cruel laughed and tapped one long red fingernail on the new glass coffee table. "Touchy aren't we sweetie?"_

_Bridget silently put the albums away. She didn't want someone as mean as Kaya looking through Eric and her stuff. Bridget once again repeated herself. "What do you want and why are you here?" She demanded_

_Kaya once again ignored this question and walked over to Bridget. She grabbed Bridget face with one hand and turned her face over, taking a good close look at Bridget. "Hmm… Why would Eric go for a girl like this?"_

_Bridget pulled herself away from Kaya's grasp and demanded "What do you want?"_

_Kaya flashed her pearly whites before saying "How old are you?"_

_Bridget frowned and walked toward the exit door. "I'm 26. If you don't tell me why you're here, leave."_

_Kaya let loose another laugh. "Still young aren't we darling? Shouldn't you be in your parent's home playing with your little dollies?"_

_Bridget had enough of this. "Leave. Now" She demanded._

"_No way darling."_

"_Leave!!!"_

"_Okay, you know why I'm here? I'm here to warn you to go home now. You were never meant to be with Eric. Find a man that's your own age. Leave Eric to me."_

_These words seemed to spear through Bridget's heart. She felt tears threaten to fall. "I said leave!" Bridget screamed. _

_Kaya laughed maniacally and walked threatening up to Bridget. "No I'm not. You might as well get out of Eric's life because he… is… mine"_

"_Says who?" Bridget shot back. By now, tears were streaming down her face._

"_My baby!" Kaya shouted._

"_Baby?" Bridget whispered, afraid to know the answer. _

"_Yes. Eric's baby."_

"_Impossible…."_

"_It was conceived one week before we broke up"_

"_A month ago…" Bridget muttered._

"_Yes"_

_Bridget was speechless. Tears were now streaming down her face. Her happy life was ruined with Eric if Kaya bared his first child. _

_That was when Eric came into the living room. _

"Eric…" Bridget said again, tears streaming down her face. In two quick strides, Bridget was in Eric's arms. She squeezed Eric and he rested his head on her shoulder.

Suddenly, Eric remembered his manners. He cleared his throat. "Kaya…" He started.

Kaya flashed her most innocent smile and returned the greeting.

"Why are you here?" He asked.

Kaya hesitated. Eric felt Bridget tense up in his arms.

"Eric, I'm pregnant with our baby..." Kaya said.

* * *


	23. The End

**Love can Overcome Anything**

**Chapter Twenty-Three- The End**

**AN- Well, I guess this is it! My last chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

"You're pregnant with our baby?" Eric asked, incredulous. 

Kaya nodded, her hand lingering near her small bulging stomach.

"But when did this happen?" Eric asked, still not recovered from shock yet. Bridget untangled herself from his arms and went to sit down on the couch. She couldn't believe this was happening.

Kaya smiled and said "Don't you remember? The last night when we broke up, our last late night fling?"

Bridget's head shot up from where it was resting in her hands. "I need to go lie down"

Eric took a quick glance at Bridget and said "Sure Bee." He turned back to Kaya. "But we were so careful… weren't we?"

Kaya shrugged and said "Things happen Eric."

"So how are you going to cope with this?"

"What are you saying? Do you mean you're going to leave me alone on this? I thought you were a gentleman!"

"Well, what do you want me to do? I'll help out with the birth and everything, but I'm not going to leave Bridget just for our baby."

Kaya's eyes flashed with anger. "So you're saying that you're going to leave me with your baby alone after the birth? Eric, this is your baby. Your first baby. Besides, it's basically your fault that this all happened anyways! I can't support this baby. I have no job, no money. You think it's your life that's ruined? Think about mine for a change! I came here asking for your support and you turn your back on me!"

Eric was speechless. Kaya was right. It was his entire fault. There were two ways out of this. One, he could be unruly and let Kaya deal with this on her own, or two, he could be a gentleman and do the right thing. And the right thing was to-

"Live with the consequences" Eric whispered. Kaya stared at Eric, confused at what he said. Suddenly, Eric knew what he had to do. His duty. He was brought up to be a gentleman and he had to stay that way.

He silently left Kaya and went into his bedroom that he shared with Bridget. Bridget was lying there, curled up in the covers.

"Bee" Eric said.

Bridget murmured a barely audible mumble of greeting.

"I know what I have to do. It is my fault that all this happened. Bee, you don't know how much this hurts me but I have to stay with Kaya. For the happiness of my baby, my first child." He said softly.

She nodded, understanding. It was supposed to be that she would be the first one to bear Eric's first child. It was supposed to be that they would live a happy life. But life just didn't go that way. But there was one question that she desperately needed answered:

"What's going to happen to us?"

Eric sighed, knowing that this would be painful. "We are going to have to part ways for now. I'll have to go take care of Kaya and my child. I need to help with her pregnancy. But when the baby is born, we'll probably have to give it away, or keep it. We'll decide after he or she's born."

Every single one of these words drew up a painful cut into Bridget's heart. "So where are you going to go?"

"I'm going to stay with Kaya."

"And I have to stay here?"

"Yes, I'm so sorry"

Bridget lunged herself into Eric's arms. His arms wrapped around her and held her in tight, like he was afraid it would be the last time he ever held her. She cried in his chest, terrified about what was going to happen next. He rested his head on hers, fiercely fighting the tears that were threatening to fall. And together, they sat there, in each other's embrace for what might be their last time together.

o0o

Two weeks later-

Bridget walked her way through her empty flat at around 2PM. It's been two weeks and she was just beginning to cope with life without Eric. They seen each other a few times over the past months but it only brought up more pain to the both of them. It was also an awkward affair because both of them weren't sure how to act. Her sisters were a tremendous help, making sure that she was okay every day, giving her company at least every two days. Eric was trying to cope with his life too. It was hard because he no longer loved Kaya but he was forced to live with her for the sake of his child.

She opened the fridge and got out yet another container of her favorite yogurt. It was her consoling food. Bridget opened the lid and ate a big spoonful. She looked at the calendar, just out of curiosity.

And there, she saw something that brought tears in her eyes, leaving her body with this great gnawing feeling. Today, in two hours, was supposed to be their wedding. Earlier in the week, Eric had called everybody and cancelled their wedding. Bridget dropped to the floor and tears flooded out. This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life.

o0o

Eric walked around, mowing Kaya's yellowish-greenish un-maintained lawn when he suddenly remembered something. It was supposed to be his and Bridget wedding today. Eric's eyes flashed with realization as his common sense finally hit him. He was being a moron. He left his happy life just to be with a pregnant woman who really didn't need his help.

Daily, Kaya went shopping at the malls. She rarely spent time home. It was Eric who was left in Kaya's home cleaning and doing domestic house work. In fact, the only time Kaya ever needed Eric's help was when she couldn't carry her new television back into her house.

Eric realized that he was being foolish. He really didn't need to leave Bridget. He could have just stayed with her and they could have helped Kaya together. He didn't need to leave Bridget! Eric mentally slapped himself. He was so mad at himself. How come he never thought about that?

But now, there was no time to be sulking over his dumbness. Now, he had a wedding to repair. All he needed was the phone, lots of apologizing and the help of three certain fair ladies that probably are so mad at him right now…

o0o

Bridget heard the doorbell ring. She got up from the floor and answered it. Her eyes were incredibly puffy and her hair was a disaster. But she didn't care. She didn't' care for anything these days.

She opened it and there, Tibby, Carmen and Lena stood with ear-to-ear grins. Each was holding rather large bags.

"Hi" Bridget greeted. "Come on in"

Tibby and Carmen walked into the living room whilst Lena stayed right near Bridget. Lena leant forward a little to inspect Bridget.

"You've been crying again!" She accused Bridget. Lena took a hand and wiped away the tears. She then gently led Bridget to the living room, where Tibby and Carmen were waiting.

Bridget glanced from Lena to Tibby, then to Carmen. They all had mysteriously happy faces.

"What's up?" Bridget asked.

Suddenly, Carmen couldn't take it anymore. "It's time to get ready for your wedding Bee!"

Bridget felt her heart drop to her feet. Her brain couldn't seem to register the phrase Carmen just said. "What?" Bridget barely audibly whispered.

Tibby came over and put her arm around Bridget. "Yes Bee, Eric called us and asked if we could repair your wedding. Everything is all right now. The guests are coming, the food is still coming, and everything is in perfect order!"

Bridget couldn't believe her ears! After 2 weeks, everything was still going to be alright. Eric and she were still going to get married! But was Eric okay with all this? Well, of course he was. He was the one who reorganized their wedding.

"I have to talk to Eric" Bridget suddenly announced.

"NO!" Tibby, Lena and Carmen yelled in unison.

"Why?" Bridget asked, alarmed.

"Because Eric said he didn't want to see you until the wedding… you know, old fashion rules?" Carmen answered.

"Oh yeah" Bridget replied.

Tibby held up one of the large bags she was carrying and pulled out a beautiful white wedding dress. Bridget gasped. This was the one that together, she, Tibby, Carmen and Lena had chosen as her wedding dress. Eric had not seen it yet. Realization hit her. Eric didn't cancel her wedding dress because he forgot about it. The address wasn't in his wedding organizer book so he simply forgot about it. It wasn't in his book because she was the one who chose the wedding dress in the first place.

Bridget smiled genuinely for the first time in two weeks. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get ready for my wedding!"

o0o

_Dum dee da doo-_

The first grand piano bars of the wedding march echoed out through the whole room. The room was packed with guests, all smiling and standing, waiting for the bride-to-be to make her first grand entrance into the room.

The room was truly a sight. A fine red carpet was laid in the aisle, just waiting for petals to be laid out by the flower girls, and to be finely stepped on by the bride. The chandelier lights were dimmed out and the sweet fragrance of lilies and orchids wafted through the room. Each bench was decorated with a beautiful white streamer, made out of silk. On the front bench stood a teary eyed Greta, a happy Tibby and her husband and a misty eyed Carmen and her husband. Lena was chosen as the bridesmaid (the four sisters had an agreement; Bridget was Tibby's bridesmaid, Carmen was Lena's bridesmaid, Tibby was Carmen's bridesmaid and Lena was Bridget's)

In the front stood a man, anxiously waiting for the sight of his bride, whom he hadn't seen, talked too or communicated with for a week. Eric was a wreck. He straightened up his black tie. He was a fine sight; wearing a black tuxedo. But what truly stood out were his eyes. His eyes were filled up with emotion.

The signal for the wedding procession to begin started. Every guest turned and waited for the bride. The flower girls one by one walked down, throwing red rose petals onto the floor. Gracefully, the bride stepped into the room erupting fireworks into the groom's body.

She was truly beautiful; the dress flowed swiftly with her every step. Her wedding dress reflected pure elegancy and serenity. It was a strapless silk dress, with a top that hugged her curves, in all the right places. The top middle part of her dress was beaded with a design of an orchid. The orchid's leaves were beaded down to her waist, where there were numerous layers of fine fabric, flowing down to touch the ground.

Her delicate hands held a large white bouquet of orchids and lilies, and she wore a small simple silver bangle on her left wrist. Her stunning hair was twisted into an elegant bun in the back, and blonde wisps of hair shaped her beaming face. Her face was covered with her wedding veil, laced together by fine strands of silk. Her every step closer to Eric, who was standing at the front, brought tingles through his body. She looked absolutely divine; and she was going to be all his.

Finally, Bridget arrived at the front. She stood beside Eric, who couldn't keep his eyes off her. She turned and their eyes locked. A strong connection surged through. It's been a week since they've been in each other's sight, and just being reunited was just a tremendous feeling. Emotions flooded through both of them, happiness, joy, relief, and more.

Just looking through each other's eyes, they knew that finally, they were going to be one, through the bonds of love. There aren't going to be anymore fights, or problems. They overcame every problem and obstacle, through their love.

And as they listened, together, as their wedding continued, they knew that they were meant for each other, forever.

"Bridget Vreeland, do you take this man, Eric Richman to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Bridget took one glance at Eric, who was looking at her with an intense gaze. She took a look at the people who came to celebrate her wedding; she looked at her dad, her brother, her three sisters, her grandmother, her soon-to-be parents, her friends and she knew that they would always be there to support her, along with her husband.

"I do." Bridget stated simply. There was no other thing she wanted other than this man standing beside her.

"And do you, Eric Richman, take this lady, Bridget Vreeland, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do" Eric said, with no hesitation.

Bridget gazed at Eric. He had said this with so much sincerity, love, and genuinely.

"Then I hereby declare you Mr. and Mrs. Richman. You may kiss"

Eric lifted up his trembling fingers and raised Bridget's veil, only to reveal her dazzling face, full of emotion and love. Her eyes were full and so innocent. Eric couldn't stand it anymore. He drew her face in for the kiss, a uniting loving one. He mustered up all the love he could into the one kiss and when their lips touched, both of them knew that they were 'the one' for each other and nothing could change that. They knew that they overcame so many obstacles in life but nothing had drawn them apart. Their love for each other was so strong, that it could overcome anything, anywhere and anytime.

_**The End**_

* * *

AN- I can't believe I finished writing this. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed reading it. Well, I guess that's it! The end of my longest story ever. I had fun writing this, and I would also like to say a few thank you's. 

But first, I would like to say that I probably can't bear NOT having a story to update so pretty soon, another story will be posted. Check it out!

The Sisterhood of the Cruising Pants: The four sisters decide to take a celebration cruise as a celebration of their graduation of high school! They take a 2 week cruise around the Carribean. Takes place after second book (Bridget still not back together with Eric, Lena still heartbroken after Kostos) But exception: Carmen still met Win.

Bridget- She re-meets Eric for the first time after the first summer. She hasn't seen him in 2 years. Need I say more?

Carmen- She finds herself a job as an actress in the late night shows. Then she finds herself slowly falling in love with her co-actor. But what? He's Win's cousin? And Win's on the cruise?

Tibby- Finds herself a new boyfriend, (boy next cabin) and is determined that he's 'the one'. How will Tibby react when she finds out he's cheating on her AND with Lena?

Lena- Finds herself a new boyfriend who (boy next cabin) and is determined that he's 'the one'

How will Lena react when she finds out he's cheating on her AND with Tibby?

---

So I'm still working on that new story. I might just add a sequel to this story, or maybe an epilogue. I don't know for sure yet. So now, to my thank you's.

Thank you to my reviewers (the number in the brackets mean the number of reviews that person has submitted to my story):

xXx dark shadow xXx (1)

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I have to thank you guys SO SO SO much, especially those who stuck with me and my story from the beginning!!!! Without you, this story probably would have never been completed. Thank you for the support and encouragement. Each and every single one of your reviews has brought me motivation and joy. Reviews are like an author's best friend. They act like a reward for writing a story. So thank you very much.

I had great fun writing this story. Thank you for also giving this story plus 12 000 hits and a lot of alerts. Thank you!!!

It would mean SO much to me to know your feedback on my story. So please, if you enjoyed this story, send me a review because I would love to know how you thought.

Signing off-

OrchidPrincess


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